First malicious program aims for handhelds

**dj_stick** · Aug 6, 2004, 09:35 AM

"A malicious Trojan horse program has emerged for Pocket PCs, antivirus companies said Thursday, but they characterised the threat as relatively low.

The program, known alternately as Backdoor.Bardor.A and WinCE.Brador.a, lets an attacker gain full control of the handheld and is the first such "backdoor Trojan" program to emerge for Pocket PCs. However, such backdoor programs are not capable of propagating on their own and instead must be sent as e-mail attachments or through similar means, making them less dangerous.

Symantec rated the bug a "1," the lowest on its five-point scale. In a statement, the company offered the standard warning not to open or execute files from unknown sources.

"Backdoor server and Trojan horse programs often use enticing file names to trick users into executing them," said Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager, Symantec Security Response. The bug appears to be limited to devices that use an ARM processor and Microsoft's Pocket PC operating systems, Symantec said.

Last month, researchers identified the first Windows CE virus, which researchers said was mostly a "proof-of-concept" bug, or one designed to demonstrate its own feasibility."

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Source: ZDNet, Australia

Aug 6, 2004, 09:35 AM	#1
dj_stick Apple Fanboy? Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Basement of the first floor Posts: 17,485 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	First malicious program aims for handhelds "A malicious Trojan horse program has emerged for Pocket PCs, antivirus companies said Thursday, but they characterised the threat as relatively low. The program, known alternately as Backdoor.Bardor.A and WinCE.Brador.a, lets an attacker gain full control of the handheld and is the first such "backdoor Trojan" program to emerge for Pocket PCs. However, such backdoor programs are not capable of propagating on their own and instead must be sent as e-mail attachments or through similar means, making them less dangerous. Symantec rated the bug a "1," the lowest on its five-point scale. In a statement, the company offered the standard warning not to open or execute files from unknown sources. "Backdoor server and Trojan horse programs often use enticing file names to trick users into executing them," said Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager, Symantec Security Response. The bug appears to be limited to devices that use an ARM processor and Microsoft's Pocket PC operating systems, Symantec said. Last month, researchers identified the first Windows CE virus, which researchers said was mostly a "proof-of-concept" bug, or one designed to demonstrate its own feasibility." Read More Source: ZDNet, Australia