First Mobile Phone Virus Discovered 240
CHaN_316 writes "News.com.au is running an article about the First Mobile Phone Virus Discovered. The virus 'called Cabir - appears to have been developed by an international group specialising in creating viruses which try to show "that no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks"... until now it has had no harmful effect.' Cabir infects the Symbian operating system, and spreads via bluetooth. Great... lets see when we can download the world's first mobile phone anti-virus!"
Ring!...Ring!.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ring!...Ring!.... (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdot, hello. Yes he is, hold on. CmdrTaco, it's for you. It's God. He says we should have girls at Slashdot.
spam (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ring!...Ring!.... (Score:2)
"Great... lets see when we can download the world's first mobile phone anti-virus!"
Yeah. It's a joke until we all need 128 MB of RAM on our phones just for anti-virus software and the OS needed to run it.
OTOH, maybe Embedded Linux will save us all.
dupe... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:dupe... (Score:4, Funny)
Hey, go easy on the editors - it's not their fault. Michael obviously has a Nokia Series-60 phone which has been infected. It's a variant and posts duplicate story submissions to slashdot. I've already tried to alert Sophos. They spat in my face and called me a liar.
Re:dupe... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:dupe... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:dupe... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:dupe... (Score:2)
No doubt. A cell phone that dispenses prophylactics would be a huge hit among the teenage crowd.
I imagine someone has probably also come up with a design incorporating cell-phone vibrators, too.
Oh wa... whatever.
SB
Re:dupe... (Score:2)
Re:dupe... (Score:5, Funny)
Important question (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Important question (Score:4, Funny)
Not as off-topic as you thought, eh?
MS bash, by request (Score:2)
High scores (Score:5, Interesting)
timothy - 114
michael - 104
CmdrTaco - 80
Hemos - 32
CowboyNeal - 22
pudge - 12
Re:High scores (Score:2)
Amazing firsts... (Score:2)
/ME wonders... (Score:2)
Re:dupe...MOD UP (Score:2)
Please mod parent to +5, Ancient Music.
Just in case the younguns missed the reference [findlyrics.com].
Re:dupe... (Score:2)
Re:dupe... (Score:2)
say it with me now... (Score:5, Funny)
{ring ring}
You've been haxx0red!
Re:say it with me now... (Score:2)
Re:say it with me now... (Score:5, Funny)
Guy with glasses: "C4N j00 h4> m3 n0\/\/? g00d, WTF!!!1111
Also discovered... (Score:2, Funny)
I can see it now (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I can see it now (Score:2)
If that ever happens, that company will recieve a $0.10 invoice for the instant messaging charge.
First email spam I got... (Score:2)
The first email spam I got - 'WAY back when - was an offer selling bulk mailing software and an address list.
"Oh, oh!" thought I. "Here comes the junkmail!"
(THAT was the understatement of the digital age, wasn't it? B-( )
Re:I can see it now (Score:3, Informative)
There is already antivirus software for cell phones: my McAfee (version 7, mind you, not even the more recent version 8) Antivirus scans my Motorola MPx200 when I connect it to my computer via the mini-USB port on it.
So it would just be a matter of adding the virus to the preexisting signatures.
spreads via bluetooth huh.... (Score:5, Funny)
Kinda like a real virus.
Re:spreads via bluetooth huh.... (Score:2)
Re:spreads via bluetooth huh.... (Score:4, Informative)
Good reason to turn off your phone on the airplane :-).
Nokia 3410 anyone? (Score:5, Interesting)
Sometimes progress is not an advantage.
Come on, this is ridiculous (Score:2, Informative)
He was quicker then me )(*@#./ (Score:2)
Anyway, please note this virus is relatively benign, just spreadign itself and some grafiti.
maybe... (Score:5, Funny)
it submits stories to
For the love of god check the front page (Score:5, Informative)
Re:For the love of god check the front page (Score:5, Insightful)
You really have to wonder when the editors of slashdot consistently show that they themselves don't read slashdot. Don't you?
Re:For the love of god check the front page (Score:2)
So? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dupe - No one reads DaddyPants email? (Score:3, Interesting)
I saw this was a dupe when it was "In The Mysterious Future" and emailed daddypants, but it *STILL* got posted. WTF??
Re:Dupe - No one reads DaddyPants email? (Score:2)
Re:Dupe - No one reads DaddyPants email? (Score:2)
Waitaminnut-- (Score:5, Funny)
Quick, close port 80!
And the purpose of the exercise was? (Score:2, Informative)
Inherent in society is a certain bit of stupidity, mixed with skill, it's a dangerous and irritating rash that itches on the skin of the sane.
Why does this need to be pointed out? Ohh, right, because asshats such as these guys or others will write viruses that will exploit this weakness just because they can. Ahh yes, personal entertainment at the expense of others, it's our God given right!
I'm really sick of this. Not only the tard that write
I don't get it... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I don't get it... (Score:2)
Re:I don't get it... (Score:2)
Oh, and THANK YOU!
Re:I don't get it... (Score:3, Interesting)
I did. It got rejected in approximately a half-hour.
This, on the other hand, is a duplicate of a story that's still on the front page.
I can forgive the occasional dupe when it's a dupe from three days or more, but... still on the front page?! You've got to be kidding me.
Re:I don't get it... (Score:2)
Bar: I did. It got rejected in approximately a half-hour.
Actually, that story was out yesterday. Evidence here [slashdot.org].
No excuse for this dupe, though. Must be summer in the Northern Hemisphere again.
Re:I don't get it... (Score:2)
Re:I don't get it... (Score:2)
why? oh why? WHY!? (Score:5, Insightful)
And this is after subscribers email Dupe! notices!
Re:why? oh why? WHY!? (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe the departments don't communicate well?
He probably missed it because ... (Score:2)
He probably missed it because the previous story was under "security" and this one under "handhelds".
Fools (Score:4, Funny)
Here's the dupe update (Score:5, Funny)
Update: 06/15 15:15 GMT by M [slashdot.org]: You may remember we mentioned this earlier today [slashdot.org].
Helpfully yours
*bow*
Extra, extra evening news same as morning news. (Score:2)
Morning News. [slashdot.org]
Bummer (Score:2)
This goes along with a BBC story... (Score:5, Interesting)
So... adding a little danger to the thrills of Unprotected Toothing...
Spreads via bluethooth eh? (Score:2)
Cell phone virus? (Score:5, Funny)
That shanker lasted a week!
Re:Cell phone virus? (Score:2)
Not nearly as bad as the virus I got from that public pay phone!
Now you know why phone sanitizers perform an important function in society.
Infect *this* (Score:5, Funny)
I'll believe that when they infect my refrigerator. Oops, looks like they already got that week-old bottle of milk...darn...
More info here! (Score:2)
I got an idea!!! (Score:5, Funny)
I know, I know. It is confusing and complicated. I myself didn't believe this was a dupe until I read the 65th post saying it was. To be honest, even then I was a little skeptical. So to be sure I read the next 20 posts. Sure enough they all agreed with the other 65 people: The story is a dupe.
But for some reason, I still wasn't 100% convinced. To be super sure, I took a strole down to my crime lab and ran a few tests. The results?
The framerate on Quake 3 is better when using the Radeon 9800 Pro compared to using a Voodoo 2.
I realized that these benchmark tests were getting me nowhere, so I quickly ran outside and stopped a few people on the street. After explaining the situation on slashdot, 3 people quickly walked away, 2 spit on me, and the last guy asked me for change so he could take the bus. I gave him 35 cents.
At this point I started panicing, as time is running out. I ran back inside read and yesterday's penny-arcade. What an eye opener... it dawned on me: NO ONE FUCKING CARES IF THIS STORY IS A DUPE. JESUS CHRIST, LEAVE IT ALONE AND MOVE ONTO THE NEXT STORY.
That is all.
Re:I got an idea!!! (Score:2)
Just thought you'd appreciate me pointing out how smart I am.
Re:I got an idea!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't understand. The problem with dupe stories is not the mere fact that they are dupes, but that the discussion will now be fractured across two articles. That is why it is vitally important that any dupe story have its discussion reduced to a smouldering wasteland of "DUPE!" comments as quickly as possible. As you say, only 99 messages speak the obvious in this discussion - and as a result, some people have posted interesting and worthwhile comments that should have been instead posted to the first a
Dupe on the same page even! (Score:2)
--D Score: -1 Redundant or +1 funny, I don't care.
Re:Dupe on the same page even! (Score:3, Funny)
The ultimate cell phone virus... (Score:2, Funny)
Bluetooth vulnerabilities (Score:4, Informative)
damn script kiddies! (Score:2)
How can you make a claim like that when your most notable accomplishment is making a bunch of cell phones display an obscure word? Wipe clean my credit card debt or take out the IRS databases and then I'll agree with you on what l33t h4X0rs you are.
How do they program moblie phone applicatioins? (Score:2)
Verizon (Score:2)
Good!
Could be worse... (Score:2)
Peter
As usual (Score:2)
It's a PHONE, dammit... (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no rationale reason whatsoever why a cell phone needs to be susceptible to viruses.
What next? Digital cameras that are capable of updating their firmware by photographing the screen of the vendor's website... that will be infested by virus code which somebody smuggles onto the Jumbotron screen at a football game?
Re:It's a PHONE, dammit... (Score:3, Insightful)
Then you think that there is no need for a mobile where you can install third-party software? All a virus is is a malicious piece of software.
Would the same hold for a PC perhaps? Maybe you should only ever be allowed to use the software that comes with it, provided by the OS vendor? That would make things a lot more secure! After all, "there is no need for a OS to be susceptible to viruses", is there?
Re:It's a PHONE, dammit... (Score:3, Interesting)
As a matter of fact, I do. As the parent poster put it, "It's a PHONE, dammit!" Not all of us want a super-convergence device that allows us to play games, send email, calculate our taxes, photograph our pets, etc. Believe it or not, some of us just want a damn phone and that's it.
Personally, I expect my phone to be an appliance and I treat it as such. When I look for a phone, I only look at a few things: 1)b
Re:It's a PHONE, dammit... (Score:2)
Real virus? (Score:2)
When will this stop?! (Score:2)
Next thing you know, you'll need a virus blocker for your genitals to avoid downloading a virus while having sexual intercourse.
Oh, wait...
Would This Article Have Anything To Do With... (Score:2)
Yoo-hoo, editors!
LEAVE OFF THE FRAGGIN' POT AND PAY ATTENTION!!!!
Meanwhile, the Total Information Awareness program rolls on with
Oh, wait, I guess
Simple is more. (Score:2)
no technology is reliable and safe from attack? (Score:2)
Therefore, any company that's truly concerned about security should put all of it's most important applications on a C-64 cluster.
Way nicer than they could have been. (Score:2, Interesting)
There was(is) a bug on some of the US based sms GSM handsets (may be worse, but I only know the US).... The bug was that sending a malformed binary SMS message to a specific SMSC would hang the queue for
Re:Way nicer than they could have been. (Score:2, Funny)
Is there some group/agency I could call that would let me do this without arresting me and putting me in a box forever?
Discovered? (Score:3, Funny)
My hat's off to these brave pioneers, searching for viruses in the wilds of the Yukon. (Or is it the Netherlands?) I imagine it must have been like the guy who found the first dinosaur skeleton. All these hecklers saying they don't exaist, then BOOM justification for all that research money spent digging through centuries of sediment.
No, now really. Isn't the proper term something more like "released," "written," or perhaps "invented?"
Re:Could have been worse... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Could have been worse... (Score:2)
but really, when the program spreads by relying on the user to authorize the only way to stop it is to take the power of choosing what to install away from the user, SOME PHONES DO THIS.
I don't want phones to do that though(stop me from installing programs I want, or just coded).
Re:Could have been worse... (Score:2)
Bill? Is that you? Still trolling
Re:Could have been worse... (Score:2)
Re:scoring system for the editors (Score:2)
Re:These dupes are getting worse! (Score:2)
"Last night's Slashdot story about cellular viruses was, without a doubt, the worst dupe ever. Rest assures that I was on the Internet within
minutes, registering my disgust throughout the world.. they owe me."
What? They've given you thousands of pages of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? If anything, you owe them!
Re:Holy Shit! (Score:2)
I mean, really does anyone outside LA, even remotely admires the current Lakers ?
Note to moderators :- Moderating a post as "OffTopic" in a dupe story is rather "redundunt".
Re:NEW TOPIC ANYONE (Score:2)
Re:kittens (Score:2)
Re:Why this will be different (Score:2)
Many corporate customers have a standard business phone they purchase for their employees.
One employee gets the virus, then everyone who visits that person's office/etc gets it on their phone as well.
So no, it might not knock out a whole phone network, but it could conceivably be used for espionage - its just another entry point into the corporate network. From the phone, the virus could conceivably attack other bluetooth devices, such as notebooks, etc...
Sounds like an "easy" wa