Symbian Virus Gavo.a Affects Ability to Make Calls

[symbianmod]

Symbian anti-virus specialist SimWorks has identified the first threat able to so severely disrupt the functioning of a Symbian phone that it can no longer be used to make phone calls. Previously identified threats, such as the Skulls trojans, have affected only the higher level functions of a device, not it's ability to make calls.

The threat, Gavno.a is spread via a file called patch.sis and induces mobile phone users to install it on their devices by masquerading as a patch for their phone, a concept familiar to mobile phone users from other computing platforms such as Microsoft Windows.

A second version of Gavno has also been identified, Gavno.b, which is identical to Gavno.a except that its installation file, patch_v2.sis is somewhat larger as it also includes a copy of the Cabir and Camtimer trojans. When Gavno.b is installed Cabir attempts to send a copy of Gavno and the Camtimer trojan to other nearby Symbian phones via Bluetooth.

Gavno affects Series 60 phones using Symbian OS v7 such as the Nokia 6600 and 7610. Gavno does not affect UIQ based Symbian phones such as the popular SonyEricsson P900/910 and Motorola A925/1000 or Series 60 based Symbian phones using Symbian OS v6.x such as the Nokia 3650 or Siemens SX1.

SimWorks Anti-Virus solution for Series 60 and UIQ based Symbian phones has been updated to provide protection from the Gavno trojans.