There are around 150,000 viruses out there for computers/pc’s alone. So what’s stopping people from starting an attack on cell phones? There’s really not that’s why they’ve already found 150 different viruses that attack Smartphones.
There are 3 different kinds of viruses for Smartphones.
1. CommWarrior
2. Cabir
3. Skulls
CommWarrior/Cabir are sent the same way, via blue tooth or through MMS (mulit media; pix/flix messages). Usually you will have a message popup saying that the page is corrupt and give you a “yes or no” option. If you keep hitting no it will continue popping up; if you hit yes it will integrate the virus into you phone. However if it is a via blue tooth virus, the signal only reaches 30 feet, so walk away and see if it disappears.
Skulls replace the icons on your phone with skull icons. You won’t be able to click on any of the icons that have changed into skulls. Eventually the virus will attack all of your applications making possible for you to only make phone calls.
US cellular companies don’t find these viruses a threat yet. They view it as minuscule compared to PC viruses. Which is true because pc’s have 1000 times more known viruses than Smartphones, but how long until Smartphones are just as infected as pc’s? Some believe that within one year all cellular companies will be pounding down the door of antivirus companies. These same cellular companies also believe that should a problem occur with viruses, only the cellular company should firewall/antivirus the Smartphones not by individual users. Believe it or not your Smartphone could be in need of an antivirus. If you don’t think it’s a big issue wait for you cellular company to change their mind. If you don’t want your Smartphone crashing on you or just want extra protection look into these antiviruses:
1. F- Secure
2. Bit Defendor
3. Kaspersky Mobile Security
4. Advanced Scan
5. Avast PDA Edition
6. Symantec
7. Eset
These antivirus packages for Smartphones range in price from $30-50. Not a bad price in defending your phone against viruses. They also allow you to manage your information. If your phone were to get lost or stolen the person who obtains your phone will only be able to view info you want them too. Also if your Smartphone gets stolen you can change what data shows or even swipe you phone clean. They also have GPS tracking on your Smartphone so you can find out exactly where your phone ran away too. All that on top of a firewall/antivirus protection against cybercrime is amazing.
You don’t have to wait until your cellular service decides there is the start of a huge problem in association with Smartphone viruses. Just because the problem seems small now it won’t be later so protect yourself while you can.
Sources: download.cnet.com
Zdnet.com