Virus warning issued as people switch to multimedia phones

Computer viruses that have plagued computer users and disrupted the Internet have not jumped as fast as feared to cellphones, security experts in Singapore said in a report.

They warned that the threat is increasing, though, as more people switch to multimedia 3G phones.

Fewer than 5% of cellphone users currently own feature- packed smart phones.

Viruses can wipe out important data on cellphones, and entire cellphone networks can be brought down if a mass “airborne” infection spreads through thousands of users, The Straits Times quoted Jens Andreassen of the software security company Fortinet as saying.

Most users are not prepared against virus attacks, even as they download ring tones, photographs and multimedia messages on their phones, he said. Most phones lack anti-virus software, and most service providers do not yet take the threat seriously.

Many of the viruses targeting cellphones are written by hackers testing how the malicious code can be spread from phone to phone.

If the viruses become widespread, experts warned that they will cause greater damage than computer infections.

“Imagine the loss of revenue for telcos and the score of disgruntled customers if a network is jammed by viruses being sent from infected phones,” Todd Thiemann of security software company Trend Micro told the newspaper. (dpa)