Spanish virus targets mobile phones

A computer virus that sends unwanted text messages to mobile phones has been reported in Europe today.

The virus, called I-Worm Timofonica or VBS Timofonica, is a Visual Basic script (VBS) worm that uses Microsoft Outlook to spread in a similar way to the Love Bug virus, which caused billions of pounds worth of damage worldwide last month.

Although there have been very few reports of infections, antivirus vendors said the virus is interesting because it specifically targets mobile phones.

The virus arrives via email with the subject line 'TIMOFONICA', the message 'Es de todos ya conocido el monpolio de Telefonica pero no tan...', and an attachment called 'TIMOFONICA.TXT.vbs'.

According to antivirus vendor Sophos, a VBS script is executed if a user attempts to open the attachment. The script will edit the registry to replace a file called smos.com in the 'run' command. Later, it will write the file cmos.com into the systems directory. This file will overwrite the computer's Cmos settings and delete any partition tables that it finds.

The virus will also send a copy of itself out to everyone in the user's Outlook address book and a text - short messaging service (SMS) - message to users of Telefonica's mobile service.

Antivirus experts said the virus is unlikely to spread in non-Spanish speaking countries.

Mikko Hypponon, antivirus research manager at F-Secure, said: "This seems to be a political virus. Apparently, the virus is trying to protest against the Telefonica company - and it attempts to do this by sending the message directly to people's mobile phones.

"This is not a mobile phone virus - it does not spread through phones, it just sends annoying messages to them."

Graham Cluely, head of corporate communications at Sophos, said this is not the first virus to target mobile phones.

"Because the Love Bug uses Outlook to spread, it sent itself out to some mobile phones because some people had SMS addresses in the address field in Outlook," he said.

"There is no way it can infect your phone, and even the latest Wap phones don't have a powerful enough operating system to get infected with a virus," he added.

See also:

Malicious Trojan infects Windows Media Player

Downloads malicious application when video files are run  11 Jan 2005

Everyone has gone mobile messaging mad

UK mobile phone users have gone text messaging crazy, sending 560 million messages during August.  29 Sep 2000

Vendors prepare for handheld viruses

Symantec is developing what it claims will be the first antivirus software designed specifically for handheld devices, such as Palm Pilots and Pocket PCs.  09 Jun 2000

Viruses 'pose no risk to mobile phones'

Mobile phone industry body the GSM Association has reassured users that their handsets are under no risk of infection from computer viruses.  08 Jun 2000

Caching touted as means to catch viruses

The first draft of a protocol which takes a fresh approach to combating HTML-based viruses and the downloading of Trojan horse-style programs from the internet has been published.  24 May 2000

Virus 'worse than Love Bug' on the loose

Users should beware of a new virus which experts say could be more destructive than the deadly Love Bug.  19 May 2000

Love Bug 2: experts say don't panic

Antivirus experts have calmed fears that a virus even more deadly than the Love Bug is about to swamp networks around the world.  19 May 2000

Love Bug prompts Microsoft security update

Microsoft has finally caved into industry pressure and has begun to improve the security weaknesses in its Outlook messaging software that aid the rapid spread of viruses such as the Love Bug.  17 May 2000

Love Bug: the virus threat

Businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable to viruses such as the Love Bug, which threaten to cost them billions of dollars in damage if they do not take measures to protect themselves.  10 May 2000

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