Cabir on the loose in Russia – first documented case of an infection in the wild

Kaspersky Lab, a leading secure content management software developer, reports the first mobile phone infection by Cabir.a in Russia. This makes Russia the ninth country where a confirmed infection has occurred in the wild: Cabir.a has already been documented in the Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, China, India, Finland, Turkey and Vietnam.

The infected phone was a Nokia 7610 series 60 platform (based on Symbian OS) and Bluetooth technology. Virus Lab analysts determined that the phone had been breached by the original Cabir variant, first detected in June 2004. This variant was a proof of concept virus. Unfortunately, it is now in the wild and striking mobile phones running Symbian OS.

Mobile phone infections and thus preventive measures are strikingly different from similar issues in regards to desktops: the primary difference being that mobile phone infections usually occur in crowded public spaces where many people are using mobile phones simultaneously.

Preventive measures are core for protecting your data and your phone. Kaspersky Lab virus analysts recommend the following measures for owners of all mobile devices running on Symbian OS:

· Keep your Bluetooth device in invisible or non-discoverable mode
· Do not download or install files from unknown or suspicious sources
· Install the free tool from Kaspersky Lab to detect and/or remove Cabir