Those who read this Web site regularly know a more hazardous time for wireless consumers is upon us because of the advent of smartphone viruses and trojans. Mobile malware took yet another significant twist today with the identification of the first virus that spreads itself through Multimedia Message Service(MMS) messages.

Discovered by New Zealand-based antivirus vendor SimWorks, the virus, called CommWarrior.a, can send itself to any mobile phone in the world. It appears the negative effects of the malware are limited to Symbian smartphones that run the Series 60 interface, however.

Symbian is by far the most common smartphone platform with over 20 million handsets in circulation, while Series 60 is hands down the operating system's most popular interface. The majority of malicious code found in the "wild" so far targets these types of phones.

Reports say CommWarrior.a scans a Symbian handset's address book to send infected MMS messages to contacts. Along with itself these messages include a text message to encourage the recipient to install the malicious code.

The new virus also leverages Bluetooth to scan for and infect handsets within close proximity. Most previous mobile malware used Bluetooth only as its means of transport.

SimWorks CEO Aaron Davidson says, “Just like with the Bluetooth viruses, anyone receiving an infected MMS will still receive several warning messages prior to actually completing installation." (see bellow)

The development of CommWarrior.a represents a whole new era in the short lifespan of mobile malware.

Davidson comments, "This is a significant development as until now mobile viruses have used Bluetooth to spread only within a range of 10 meters surrounding the infected device. Using MMS viruses like CommWarrior.a have a much greater potential to spread globally".

The Kiwi company's CEO points out CommmWarrior.a could conceivably send hundreds of these messages silently before discovery. MMS messages cost on average $0.25 and $1.00 each, an expensive proposition for the consumer.

Although the virus's bilateral attack is insidious, SimWorks thinks the limited availability of MMS—while disappointing in some respects—could prevent CommmWarrior.a from infecting a wide and area or a large number smartphones.

"While the introduction of MMS as a transmission technique allows much wider spread, in reality MMS is an emerging service and it's interoperability between operators is still in its infancy. Many phone users still do not have MMS capable devices, or do not have the service configured, and this may limit the spread of the virus," asserts Davidson.

Basic Security
Although the majority of handheld/smartphone viruses have been targeted at Symbian smartphones so far, other platforms aren't immune to attack. For example, Pocket PCs and Pocket PC Phones already have a few of their own viruses and Trojans.

As s a rule, it is a good idea not to accept Bluetooth messages from unknown users no matter if your device runs the Symbian, Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone, Palm OS, or Linux platforms, or even a proprietary operating system.

And as F-Secure's director of anti-virus research Mikko Hypponen recommends, operate your device in hidden Bluetooth mode to avoid being infected.

You can never be sure if that friendly little wireless hello from a stranger on the trade show floor or on the street is genuine or not.