Mobile phone virus developers use slightly different infection mechanisms than desktop malware authors. Most often, such viruses are spread through application installation packages.
Instructions
Step 1
Viruses infecting phones on the J2ME platform are insidious in that they work on some other platforms: Bada, Symbian, and, if a virtual machine is installed, also on Android and Windows Mobile. On the other hand, such a virus either does not have access to the phone's file system, or this access is limited. You can remove such a virus by erasing the infected application itself. Most often, such programs are disguised as updated versions of mobile browsers, instant messaging programs. Once on the phone, they send SMS messages to short numbers. To avoid infection, download such programs only from the official websites of the developers, especially since they are usually free there as well.
Step 2
On Android and Windows Mobile platforms, malware can also exploit vulnerabilities in the browser, like on a desktop computer, but the likelihood of this is low. More often, viruses for these operating systems are also distributed in the form of fake applications. Train yourself to download any programs for your smartphones either from the official websites of the developers, or, in the case of Android, from the Android Market. In the past, infected programs were often found there, but now, after the introduction of mandatory application auditing, the likelihood of a malicious application appearing on the Market has greatly diminished. Viruses for these operating systems not only send messages to short numbers, but also make phones part of botnets.
Step 3
Dangerous programs for Symbian were widespread when the most popular version of this OS was the seventh. It did not require a digital signature for applications, which is what virus writers used. While, for example, in the subway, it was possible to repeatedly receive a request to receive a SIS file via Bluetooth. However, if such requests were rejected, there was no risk of infection. With the transition to the ninth version of Symbian, where the digital signature became mandatory, such cases have almost disappeared. The only thing left is the danger of such infection with a Java application (see above). Do not under any circumstances hack your own device to run unsigned applications - by doing this you artificially reduce its security level to the level of Symbian 7.
Step 4
Smartphones running iOS and Windows Phone 7 do not allow installing applications from anywhere other than official online stores. Some of these programs spy on users, transmitting their coordinates and other data in anonymized form to their developers. But they do not steal passwords, do not send SMS to short numbers, do not spoil data and do not carry out other similar destructive actions. But if you implement a so-called jailbreak on the device, which allows you to install third-party applications, the risk of infecting it with viruses increases significantly.
Step 5
Malicious programs for Bada, MeeGo, Maemo and similar platforms have not yet been detected. This is due to the low prevalence of devices with these OS. But it should be borne in mind that they are compatible with viruses for J2ME, and also be wary of the appearance of dangerous programs for these platforms in the future, if their popularity grows.
Step 6
Android and Windows Mobile smartphones, Symbian 7, and, to a much lesser extent, Symbian 9 need to install antivirus software. You can download antivirus, whether paid or free, only from the developer's official website. Remember that it consumes traffic when updating, so correctly configure the APN and connect an unlimited tariff. While in roaming, turn off the auto-update of the antivirus, and after returning home, turn it on again.
