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Comments on: Symbian malware escapes Russia

Rare but... 

Posted Monday 21st May 2007 12:30 GMT

"Infections for mobile malware are rare and ordinary Symbian users have little to fear."

... of course the likes of F-Secure will have you believe it's bad enough to make you buy their mobile anti-virus products.

Just Gimme The Dumb Phone 

Posted Monday 21st May 2007 13:26 GMT

Smart phones! Nothing wrong with a good old simple phone! No real advanced OS to speak of, so no international SMS japery!

not the only malware to worry about... 

Posted Monday 21st May 2007 15:41 GMT

More disturbing are the state sanctioned apps that discretely turn the handset into an active microphone, the camera into a live video feedback device and "phone home" in real-time a users exact lat/long gps coordinates.

You are either with us or against us so absolutely nothing to worry about if you are onside, right?

Somehow .... 

Posted Monday 21st May 2007 16:26 GMT

I get reminded of Yakov Smirnoff...

With Russia Trojan, Phone Calls YOU!!!

Not only malware is something to worry. There have been some cases reported that kidnappers hack into Bluetooth-enabled mobiles and use them to make ransom calls. Not only do they piggyback for free their call, they also get the police looking for another dude!!

... and that's why most of us keep Bluetooth off.

"state sanctioned apps" 

Posted Monday 21st May 2007 17:09 GMT

Well, given that the government basically has free reign over the networks, they know where you are anyway. Your phone constantly pings the nearest few BTS masts, so it constantly knows where it is- it has to do this to be able to set the timing advance properly for the network to work efficiently. They can tell where you are to within a few hundred metres.

This has always been the case, even with "dumb" phones. I remember seeing a case where the police used this to locate a distraught motorist. Presumably the intelligence services have been doing this sort of thing for years.

tracking the mobile phone 

Posted Monday 21st May 2007 21:32 GMT

there are several services that you can subscribe to that will track a phone - even a basic one. but if you want some fun/interest, download Jaiku for your S60 smart phone . no this isnt the malware that the article mentioned ;-) - but it is a location aware social networking tool.

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