A powerfully destructive virus has been unleashed on the world that targets smartphones, running the Android operating system.
The anti-virus company Lookout Mobile Security reports hundreds of thousands of phones may already have been infected but it's unknown what the authors are trying to achieve.
Kevin Mahaffey, chief technology officer for Lookout said, quote, "It could be anything from a malicious advertising network to an attempt to create a botnet." The primary concern is that people who create computer worms and viruses are turning their attention from attacking PCs to mobile devices.
Phones have been infected by the new virus after users downloaded software applications that had been repackaged to include the virus.
Contaminated programs include several video games.
Infected phones call a remote computer looking for instructions on what to do every five minutes.
At the same time, information on the phone's location, its hardware ID and SIM card are sent to the remote computer.
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