CELL PHONES
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
SMARTPHONES
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
CAMERAS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
REVIEWS
» Cell phones
» Cameras
» Camcorders
» Archive » Product Guide
» Compare » Expert guides
» RSS & Alerts » Ask The Editors
Home / Cell phones
'Metal Gear' Symbian OS trojan disables anti-virus softwareBy Larry Garfield, Tuesday 21 December 2004
A new trojan found for Series 60 smartphones masquerades as a port of a PC game, but actually infects the phone and others around it, anti-virus software or no.

Security experts at anti-virus company SimWorks have discovered a new trojan horse program for Series 60 smartphones that they've dubbed "METAL Gear.a" that uses a two-pronged attack to infect both the local phone and nearby phones via Bluetooth.

METAL Gear.a purports to be a Symbian OS-port of the PC and console game title "Metal Gear Solid" with an installation file named METAL Gear.sis. When installed, however, the trojan immediately disables specified anti-virus software on the phone, as well as all file explorers and various other applications. It then installs a variant of Cabir.c, the previously reported "Skulls" trojan.

Cabir.c will then start scanning for nearby phones via Bluetooth and, if it finds one, send the other phone an installation file called SEXXXY.sis. If the receiver accepts SEXXY.sis, that portion of the trojan will disable the "select" button on the targeted unit.

SimWorks has already released an updated version of its own anti-virus program to detect and block METAL Gear.a, and other anti-virus companies are likely to follow suit. So far, SimWorks has not released any removal instructions for users who are infected.
Best Cell phones
Name Score Price Carrier
C
Nokia N95 8GB NAM 83% $450Unlocked
Apple iPhone 3GS 83% $200AT&T
Nokia N86 82% $500Unlocked
Sprint Hero 81% $100Sprint
Motorola Droid 81% $200Verizon Wireless
HTC Droid Eris 81% $100Verizon Wireless
HTC HD2 79% $800Unlocked
Samsung Moment 78% $100Sprint
Apple iPhone 3G 77% $100AT&T
RIM BlackBerry Tour 77% $200Verizon Wireless
Click here to see full and advanced chart »
 
 
HOTTEST
Smartphones
 
Cell Phones
 
Upcoming Smartphones
TOP STORIES
Hottest Upcoming Smartphones
 
Symbian OS: The Road Ahead
 
Apple iPad Release Date: April 2010
Hottest AT&T Phones in 2009
 
Hottest T-Mobile Phones in 2009
 
Hottest Verizon Wireless Phones in 2009
Hottest BlackBerry Phones in 2009
 
Hottest Samsung Phones in 2009
 
Hottest Nokia Phones in 2009
NEW CELL PHONE RELEASES
Palm Pre Plus
Google Nexus One
HP iPaq Glisten
Samsung Omnia 2
HTC HD2
Samsung Behold II
RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700
Nokia N900
Motorola Droid
CELL PHONE RESOURCE CENTER
Expert Guides
 
Advanced Search
 
Side-by-Side
IN-DEPTH REVIEWS
Cell Phones & Smartphones
 
Digital Cameras
 
Camcorders
NOW IN PHONES
Android Increasingly Attracts Smartphone Buyers
 
Samsung, LG Unveil New Social Networking Phones
 
HTC Incredible: Verizon's New All-Touch Phone Runs Android 2.1
 
TechCrunch intern speaks out in video interview
 
Symbian CEO: Tablet-style form factors within 1-2 years
Motorola Droid Gets Pinch-to-Zoom Gesture in Google Maps 3.4
TechCrunch Ditches Young Intern Learning From "Interns"?
54.5 Million Smartphones Shipped in Q4 2009
Next 25 stories
MUST READ
CELL PHONES
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
SMARTPHONES
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
LAPTOPS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
CAMERAS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
INTERNET TABLETS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
GPS NAVIGATORS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
HDTVs
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
CAMCORDERS
» Coming soon
» Top 15
» Best-rated
About us | Site map | How to advertise | Feedback | RSS Feeds | | Archive
Copyright 1999-2010 © infoSync World