Suspected Mobile Phone Virus Writer Arrested

Police in Spain have arrested a 28 year old man on suspicion of creating and distributing a computer virus which targeted mobile phones. The man, who has not been named is accused of creating over 20 variants of the Cabir and Commwarrior "worms" which targets Symbian based mobile phones, and spreading them though MMS messages which claimed to have erotic images or news articles.

The police said in a statement that the virus had caused millions of Euros in damage to handsets and cost the network operators significant sums in trying to assist their customers. He was arrested in Valencia following a seven month investigation. Embedded inside the "worms" are references to "Leslie", which is claimed to be the girlfriend of the suspect.

Spanish police claim that as many as 115,000 mobile phones may have been struck by the virus.

"Cellphone viruses are not as common as the malware which strikes Windows desktops on a regular basis, but it is just as illegal in its intent. Viruses are not harmless pranks; they cause real harm disrupting business and personal communications as well as destroying and stealing sensitive data," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The computer crime authorities around the globe are becoming more experienced at tracking down hackers and virus writers, and malware authors should be asking themselves whether it's really worth taking the risk.""

Posted to the site on 26th June 2007