Trojan takes aim at Symbian smart phones

MetalGear.A isn't the type of surprise gift mobile phone users are looking for this holiday season.

Antivirus-software maker SimWorks said in a release published on Tuesday that the Trojan horse combines several malicious mobile phone programs that work to spread over Symbian-based phones. The program, camouflaged as a version of the game "Metal Gear Solid", will disable antivirus programs, including SimWorks, as well as other programs, the company said. The attack also installs a version of the Cabir virus, which spreads through the Bluetooth short-range wireless protocol, the firm said.

If the user opens the fake MetalGear program, Cabir will run and try to use Bluetooth to reach other phones through another file, SEXXXY.sis, SimWorks stated.

To date, Trojan horses and proto-viruses aimed at smart phones have mostly failed to spread. In a few cases, Cabir.a has managed to jump from phone to phone using Bluetooth. However, Cabir's spread - and the spread of all phone viruses - is severely curtailed by the need for users to accept and install the programs.

One program, Skulls, would change all the icons on a phone to skulls, but also corrupt the phone's programs. In August, the Mosquito program drew little blood.

Robert Lemos writes for CNET News.com.