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Some phone stores in the Philippines have begun offering virus removal services for the Caribe worm on Symbian Series 60 smartphones, despite the fact that the worm in question does not require extensive removal. The proof-of-concept worm was first discovered last June, and spreads from phone to phone via Bluetooth. It does not, however, contain a payload other than spreading itself (and the impact on battery life of regular Bluetooth usage). The proper removal and cleaning procedure, according to anti-virus firm Trend Micro, is to simply terminate the program and remove it using one of a number of installable file manager programs, a procedure users can do on their own easily.
Many local mobile phone repair shops in the Philippines, however, have begun offering a removal service for between 500 up to 1,000 pesos ($9 to $18 USD). Trend Micro advises users that they needn't pay the cost of these services, only run the simple removal procedure above. In addition, however, Trend Micro has also observed some tech savvy users using the worm as a prank against friends, as it has no actual destructive value. The company considers that potentially dangerous as it is possible for a new worm or variant of Caribe to be released with a destructive payload, which such prankish uses could then inadvertently help spread without intending to.
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