Suspected mobile phone virus author arrested

According to a statement issued by Spanish police, a 28-year-old man was arrested in Valencia following a seven month investigation. The man is accused of creating and spreading over 20 different variants of the Cabir and Commwarrior worms, which attempt to infect mobile phones running the Symbian operating system. Embedded inside the worms alleged to have been written by the man are references to “Leslie”, which is said to be the name of the suspect’s fiancée.

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

“Mobile phone viruses are not nearly as common as the malware that strikes Windows desktops on a regular basis, but they are just as illegal in their 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 given this latest arrest, malware authors should be asking themselves whether it’s really worth taking the risk.”