Posted by Virus Bulletin on Nov 11, 2010
Mobile botnet sending out SMS spam.
Over one million mobile phones in China have been infected with malware and are sending out SMS spam, the Shanghai Daily reports.
Masquerading as an anti-virus application, the malware installs itself on users' phones and sends SIM card information to hackers who then are able to control the phone, effectively turning it into a zombie. The mobile botnet is then used to send text messages containing URLs to contacts in the users' address books. Most of these URLs are pay-per-click advertisements, but some contain links to the malware itself, which has helped its rapid spread.
An unpleasant side effect of SMS spam is that, unlike email, sending text messages costs money. Even though the prices of text messages in China is significantly lower than in most Western countries, the average user whose phone is infected loses 2 yuan (approx. USD 0.30) per day.
More at the Shanghai Daily here.
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Posted on 11 November 2010 by Virus Bulletin
