Employees panic after receiving apparent virus by SMS
Employees panicking about the three recent mobile phone viruses are causing headaches for network managers by complaining about a new virus released by a computer games company.
Many mobile phone users have received an SMS which claims to be a virus, leading some to contact their network manager for help.
The SMS, which reads “I’m infecting you with t-virus”, is a hoax released by CE Europe, a computer games company trying to promote a new game called Resident Evil.
Some mobile device users have panicked after the release of three real viruses aimed specifically at mobile devices.
Cabir was the first in June as it infected Symbian phones, and it was closely followed by the Duts virus, which attacked Windows Mobile operating systems.
Neither carried a damaging payload.
Then this month, the Mosqit virus, disguised as a game, caused mobile phones to send SMSs to premium rate numbers.
It appears the panic over the hoax t-virus has been largely caused by Cabir, Duts and Mosqit.
“The messages [SMSs] are themselves not infectious, but some people have panicked,” said Graham Cluley of Sophos, the anti-virus company. “Viral marketing campaigns like this generate work for IT departments and support desks as they have to reassure users.”
It is not the first time a company has released a hoax virus for promotional purposes.
Sophos says Penguin Books tried the same tactic in 1996, which caused confusion over a period of several years.