14 DAY TRIAL // The bad news regarding the Windows Mobile operating system for handhelds seem to never end these days. To the already known vulnerabilities and possibilities to exploit it two more had been added to the database by Trend Micro, a Japanese security company.
They have discovered the two flaws in the Windows Mobile Internet Explorer and in the Windows Mobile Pictures and Video and have declared that the handsets running the Windows Mobile operating system could be affected by the simple viewing of a web page containing a malicious code or by opening a JPEG image file with built-in malware capabilities.
Todd Thiemann, the director of device security marketing at Trend Micro, has said that "Both of these vulnerabilities are potential denial-of-service factors. What we're seeing over time is an uptick in the threats against smart phones, particularly those running Symbian and Windows Mobile."
The Microsoft team has been already informed about these Windows Mobile related exploits, Trend Micro has not publicly shared the two vulnerabilities details and Thiemann has added that "the sky isn't falling. Nobody out there is aware of this".
Do you believe it? I don't because the simple mentioning of the affected Windows Mobile components are going to set the hackers, crackers and the other individuals of this kind on a true hunting spree until they discover what Trend Micro already knows.
And, from past experiences we all had with the desktop version of the Windows Mobile OS, if Microsoft isn't moving fast enough to find a solution to these problems, all you guys owning WM powered handsets could experience a first degree encounter with a crashed handheld. Yours that is!
However, the issues are currently under investigation by Microsoft which is aware of their existence as one of the software developer's representative has declared on Wednesday.
Furthermore, in case it is needed, Microsoft is ready to deliver a software upgrade to the phone manufacturers, an upgrade that can be later distributed to the owners of the affected Windows Mobile 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.0 enabled handhelds.