Cabir Virus Source Code Published Online

As many security firms feared, the source code of the dreaded Cabir virus has been posted on the Internet. This means we just might have seen the tip of the iceberg of possible variants being noticed in the wild. Tuesday saw news coming out that two variants of the original version were spotted in the wild.

These two variants were more powerful in a way that they spread much faster than the parent worm. It only affects a particular version of the Operating System from Symbian codenamed Series 60 user interface on Nokia Mobiles. It spread to other potential victims through Bluetooth connections.

Sophos, an antivirus firm confirmed yesterday that a 32-year-old programmer from Brazil made the source of the variants Cabir-H and Cabir-I available on the internet. This could potentially lead to more variants as part time programmers could modify the code and release their own versions. The programmer however claims that his code is written from scratch unlike the rumors that the original Cabir virus code inspired him.

Sophos on their part have cautioned users that they should avoid running and installing files on their handsets from unknown sources. For automatic infection, they are also advised to disable the phone’s “discoverable” mode.