The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Windows Phones message hub hit by killer SMS

Text of doom

A security flaw has been discovered in Microsoft's Windows Phone OS which allows hackers to disable a handset's messaging system by SMS.

A malicious text can be sent which stops the SMS service from working, WinRumours reports. A factory reset is the only way to remedy the issue.

Although the SMS content is hidden from view, the hack can be seen in the video below, where it reboots the device and cuts access to the messaging hub. It can also be triggered by sending a Facebook chat or Windows Live Messenger message.

The hacker who spotted the bug is said to be working directly with Microsoft to resolve the problem.

Text message viruses have been infiltrating smartphones for some time. A couple of years ago, an SMS hack for iPhone was discovered, allowing those who used it access to a device remotely. ®

OMG - this could affect literally DOZENS of people!

15
2

Can somebody...

Send it to my step daughter? Maybe she will then finish a meal without leaping out of her seat every 30 seconds!

10
0

Working urgently on a fix ?

Why not just tell the 5 people who use Windows Phone, and be done with it.

9
3
Anonymous Coward

Ahem...

You are Barry Shitpeas and ICMFP.

6
1

From RFC 791 back in 1981:

"...an implementation must be conservative in its sending behavior, and liberal in its receiving behavior. That is, it must be careful to send well-formed datagrams, but must accept any datagram that it can interpret..."

OK, so RFC791 wasn't written for SMS messages, but the core meaning still applies.

If you want to go further back in history: George Santayana back in 1905 (ish)

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

4
0

More from The Register

 breaking news
Microsoft reveals Xbox One, the console that can read your heartbeat
Upgrades Live service – and no always-on requirement
US boffin builds 32-way Raspberry Pi cluster
Beowulf cluster built for the price of a single PC
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner
Fairphone goes on sale to all
The Android handset that's PC can be yours
Nintendo throws flaming legal barrel at YouTubing fans
All your walk-through vid revenue are belong to us
Startup hires 'cyborg' Mann for Google Glass–killer project
3D augmented reality specs coming your way this year

Hands on with Hyper-V 3.0 and virtual machine movement

Our award-winning Regcasts have teamed up with training provider QA for the deepest of deep dives into Hyper-V, including a live demo.

Understand VM movement - just click to play, or go here for a bigger version.