The virus was first identified by Russian security firm
Kaspersky Labs, which believes the worm to have been created by an
international group of virus writers known as 29a. Kaspersky says
this group has a reputation for developing proof of concept
viruses.
The firm's initial analysis of the code indicates that the worm
infects smart phones running the Symbian operating system,
transferring itself in a Symbian file disguised as part of the
phone's security software. Once infected, says Kaspersky, the phone
will display the word "Caribe" on the screen, while the worm scans
for nearby Bluetooth phones to infect.
But the worm has not actually been found "in the wild" – rather,
it appears to have been sent to security firms by 29a. Nor does it
appear to contain any malicious payload, being more of an
"interesting milestone", according to Graham Cluley of anti-virus
firm Sophos.
Speaking to New Scientist, Clulely explained that the worm could
only spread from one phone to another if the owner of the recipient
phone agreed to download the relevant file.
"It is only going to be infecting people who say, yes please,
hit me on the nose," Cluley told New Scientist.
In 2000, a virus was identified that targeted mobile phones by
sending messages to them, although it was not capable of spreading
among phones.
