Mobile World

There are also new means of digital communications, such as text messaging and e-mail. As of 2004, even basic phones can send and receive text messages which makes them vulnerable to attack by worms and viruses[citation needed]. Advanced phones capable of e-mail can be susceptible to viruses that can multiply by sending messages through a phone's address book[citation needed]. Of more important concern, a virus may allow unauthorized users to access a phone to find passwords or corporate data stored on the device. Moreover, they can be used to commandeer the phone to make calls or send messages at the owner's expense[citation needed]. Unlike computers that are restricted to only a few widespread operating systems, cellular phones use a variety of systems that require separate programs to be designed in order to disable each one. While reducing overall compatibility from an application design standpoint, this has the beneficial effect of making it harder to design a mass attack. However, the rise of cellular phone operating system programming platforms shared by many manufacturers such as Java, Microsoft operating systems, Linux, or Symbian OS, may in the future change this status quo.
Bluetooth is a wireless communication feature now found in many higher-end phones, and the virus Cabir hijacked this function, making Bluetooth phones infect other Bluetooth phones running the Symbian OS. In early November 2004, several web sites began offering a specific piece of software promising ringtones and screensavers for certain phones. Those who downloaded the software found that it turned each icon on the phone's screen into a skull-and-crossbones and disabled their phones, so they could no longer send or receive text messages or access contact lists or calendars. The virus has since been dubbed "Skulls" by security experts. The Commwarrior-A virus was identified in March 2005, and it attempts to replicate itself through MMS to others on the phone's contact list. Like Cabir, Commwarrior-A also tries to communicate via Bluetooth wireless connections with other devices, which can eventually lead to draining the battery. The virus requires user intervention for propagation however. Bluetooth telephones are also subject to bluejacking, which is the generally being transmission of messages from anonymous Bluetooth users. In 2004, rumors spread of using Bluetooth to arrange casual sex hookups; this activity, widely publicized in both print and online media as toothing, was revealed to be a hoax in 2005.