First Java (J2ME) Cell Phone Trojan On The Loose

Alerts went out Tuesday from several security companies warning users of an in-the-wild Trojan horse able to infect nearly any cell phone. The Trojan, named Redbrowser.a by McAfee, F-Secure, and the discovering vendor, Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs, can attack any device -- smart phone, PDA, or cell phone -- that runs Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), Sun Microsystem's version for consumer electronics devices. "The important thing about this Trojan is that it can get to any device that runs J2ME," said Shane Coursen, a Kaspersky senior technical analyst. "A good portion of cell phones use Java for games, and some of their other programs." Redbrowser.a appears on a device as a text message with an accompanying file attachment. The file claims it's a program that lets users visit WAP sites without a connection. In reality, the Trojan installs code that sends out text messages to premium-rate phone numbers in Russia. The user's charged $5 to $6 for each message.

Source - Internet Week