'SMS botnet' warning

Security experts are warning of the rise of a botnet of mobile phones, infecting other handsets via text message.

Known as the Sexy Space or Sexy View worm, an SMS message promises the recipient 'sexy' pictures.

However, the message links to a website that infects Symbian-based mobile phones with malware that sends information from the phone back to cybercriminals.

Researchers from Symantec believe that the infected phones can also be used to send out masses of SMS spam to other phones.

"What this threat currently does – gather information from the phone and send it to predetermined addresses in addition to spamming other phones and propagating – is not solely what interests us," said Irfan Asrar of Symantec.

"A more interesting question to ask is: what could future versions of this threat potentially do? Could this be the birth of the SMS botnet?" he continued.

A flaw in the Apple iPhone makes the devices vulnerable to attack via text message.