So after the security experts announced the worm on Symbian was the first mobile phone virus, Microsoft's handheld operating system became the second potential target of a chapter line. new sabotage.
Security software company BitDefender (Rumania) has detected the virus and confirmed its ability to operate on Windows CE operating systems for use in smartphones and other mobile communications devices. The author of the attack code, claiming the Ratter name, is a member of the 29A VX hacker group that created the Cabir worm.
"Like Cabir, the author of this virus does not intend to design it to be destructive, but to prove that Windows CE devices can be infected with malicious code." says BitDefender Viorel Canja. "Its code is sent first to the anti-virus experts, not spread out".
Virus on Windows CE makes displaying a dialog window, which requires the user to allow the device to spread to another file. Although today's truly dangerous mobile viruses have not yet emerged, security software vendors are still actively preparing products to prevent potential threats sooner, especially As the trend of using mobile devices has become more and more popular.
Recently, many security analysts have suggested that even a VoIP phone could be a potential target for hackers, but so far there have been no outbreaks.
According to BitDefender, a second version of the Atak worm has emerged and is linked to supporters of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. The group previously said it would design and launch a "terrible" worm if the United States attacked Iraq.
The author of the new virus - called Atak.B - has signed his nickname Melhacker into the encrypted part of the virus code. According to Mihai Radu, communications manager for BitDefender, Atak.B is a mass-mailing e-mail worm. It has the ability to turn off all firewall and antivirus applications, and then open a back door to allow hackers to control the target computer. Like its predecessor, the virus is "silent" when network security tools scan to avoid being detected by virus experts.
Miko Hypponen, chief technology officer of F-Secure (Finland), said that Melhacker had spread a number of viruses, including Nedal (written in reverse) and Blebla. In 2002, in an interview with ComputerWorld USA, Melhacker announced that he had incorporated the most dangerous parts of the three viruses Nimda, Klez and Sircam to create a virus called Scezda. At the time, Melhacker stated that his "work" had been written and was about to be released. However, an outbreak of "Scezda" has not yet occurred.
