MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Threat of mobile viruses just scaremongering tactic?

Colin Dunstan · 05-09-2005, 05:23 AM

Remember our discussion a few days ago in which anti-virus company McAfee claimed that mobile viruses are now on the move? McAfee said it had detected around 50 different mobile viruses by now. Wireless company WDSGlobal describes these statements as pure scaremongering tactic:

"If you look at the viruses out there, currently there are about 14 core viruses, the majority of which are fairly benign. They are mostly developed as 'proof of concept' to warn manufacturers of handsets and operating systems or the antivirus industry about potential vulnerabilities," Doug Overton, head of communications for WDSGlobal said.

In fact, mobile phone viruses are so infrequent that when the BBC wanted to film one executing, it took Overton and his colleagues three days of searching the Internet just to find the code for one such virus.

Isn't it sad enough that we have to constantly worry about the threat of new viruses? We don't need companies such as McAfee and Symantec to create a myth of viruses hyping the general public with unnecessary fear of "mobile virus diseases."

[via Slashdot]

05-09-2005, 05:23 AM	#1
Colin Dunstan Is papyrophobic! Posts: 1,926 Karma: 1009999 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: USA Device: Dell Axim	Threat of mobile viruses just scaremongering tactic? Remember our discussion a few days ago in which anti-virus company McAfee claimed that mobile viruses are now on the move? McAfee said it had detected around 50 different mobile viruses by now. Wireless company WDSGlobal describes these statements as pure scaremongering tactic: "If you look at the viruses out there, currently there are about 14 core viruses, the majority of which are fairly benign. They are mostly developed as 'proof of concept' to warn manufacturers of handsets and operating systems or the antivirus industry about potential vulnerabilities," Doug Overton, head of communications for WDSGlobal said. In fact, mobile phone viruses are so infrequent that when the BBC wanted to film one executing, it took Overton and his colleagues three days of searching the Internet just to find the code for one such virus. Isn't it sad enough that we have to constantly worry about the threat of new viruses? We don't need companies such as McAfee and Symantec to create a myth of viruses hyping the general public with unnecessary fear of "mobile virus diseases." [via Slashdot]