Hackers take control of 1 million mobile phones
By Zhang Xuanchen |
November 9, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than 1 million Chinese mobile phone users have unwittingly sent spam messages, costing them around 2 million yuan (US$300,000) a day, after their phones were recently infected by malware.
The "zombie" virus, hidden in a bogus anti-virus application, can send the phone user's SIM card information to hackers, who then remotely control the phone to send URL links, usually pay-per-click ads, in text messages to contacts in the user's address book.
Users who click the links will also get infected, thus causing the virus to spread rapidly, China Central Television reported yesterday.
This replicating mobile phone virus hit 1 million users in their pockets in the first week of September, according to a report by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center.
Other similar viruses have since appeared. A mobile phone safety detection company in Beijing uncovered 10 similar pieces of malware since September, some of which are able to evade anti-virus software.
Discovering the hackers behind the virus is proving difficult. The producer of the application where the virus concealed itself, Sichuan Province-based Chendu Qimiao, said it has nothing to do with the malware.
The company said its business had been affected by association with the virus.
Chendu Qimiao said it is difficult for users to distinguish a normal application from an infected one.
The "zombie" virus, hidden in a bogus anti-virus application, can send the phone user's SIM card information to hackers, who then remotely control the phone to send URL links, usually pay-per-click ads, in text messages to contacts in the user's address book.
Users who click the links will also get infected, thus causing the virus to spread rapidly, China Central Television reported yesterday.
This replicating mobile phone virus hit 1 million users in their pockets in the first week of September, according to a report by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center.
Other similar viruses have since appeared. A mobile phone safety detection company in Beijing uncovered 10 similar pieces of malware since September, some of which are able to evade anti-virus software.
Discovering the hackers behind the virus is proving difficult. The producer of the application where the virus concealed itself, Sichuan Province-based Chendu Qimiao, said it has nothing to do with the malware.
The company said its business had been affected by association with the virus.
Chendu Qimiao said it is difficult for users to distinguish a normal application from an infected one.
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