Viruses for mobile phones were developed at first to prove that it is possible, but the new versions have become more and more aggressive.

After Cabir and Commwarrior have showed that viruses for the Symbian Series 60 operating system can spread through MMS, a new virus attacks smartphones: Mabir.A.

Discovered by F-Secure, MabirA has a very interesting spreading procedure. Instead of reading addresses and phone numbers, Mabir.A intercepts all SMS and MMS messages.
Immediately, the virus will be sent as a MMS message to the number that sent the initial message; the receivers will assume that the message is a reply.

After analyzing the virus, the F-Secure experts have reached the conclusion that the ones responsible for the Cabir virus are also responsible for the new virus. MabirA is derived from the same source code as Cabir.

The fact that viruses aimed at cell phones are targeting MMSs is very troubling considering the costs involved in sending such a message from one network to another or from one country to another.

Moreover, the fact that the new version appears only a few weeks after Cabir is a sign that those involved might prepare other surprises.

Like the first versions of Cabir, Mabir.A is also able to spread through Bluetooth; the virus searches for the closest phone and sends a copy of the virus.

F-Secure already has a version of the F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus, but according to the same company, no reports certifying the spreading of the virus have been received.