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back to article Symbian Trojan strikes Indonesian operator

Anti-virus vendor Kaspersky Lab is reporting a new Trojan capable of removing pre-paid credit using the SMS-transfer service offered by an Indonesian network operator. The Trojan is comprised of a Python script that sends SMS messages transferring small amounts, between 45 and 90 cents, to the attacker's account - presumably …

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  1. Mage Silver badge
    Pirate

    Afflicted?

    Judging the PC infections, most are entirely caused by "Clickitus"

    Symptom is simply randomly clicking GUI buttons of "popups" till the "go away" without actually ever reading them.

    A related malady is using the laptop/PC without reading glasses. It's thus mostly "write only" for creating documents.

    Why should tinier Mobiles in less relaxed circumstances be treated better. If I was immoral I'd be writing this stuff ages ago.

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  2. Marvin the Martian
    Coat

    "if you are afflicted by a condition that you do everything your phone asks"

    ... then surely, Kaspersky shouldn't send us this report but directly SMS the target public with a pay-and-download link?

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  3. shane fitzgerald

    Panic!!!!!

    Don't you also need to go out of your way to install python for this to even run? I don't think any S60 comes with it pre-installed.

    Have they actually seen this in the wild spreading? Sounds more like a 'heard this from a friend of a friend' type story....

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  4. Steve Litchfield

    Yup, more FUD

    Absolutely. Yet another scare story whose only aim is to try and get some 'anti-virus' sales. Python is only downloaded, typically, by very tech savvy phone users. Exactly the sort of people who wouldn't fall for such a scam....

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Transfer pre-paid credit to another phone?

    I'm not intimately familiar with Indonesian PAYG phones, though I've had UK mobiles since the days of ETACS and before, and still have a 6150 somewhere and a 6310 in active use. And I can see how sending a paid-for SMS would waste someone's credit.

    So, please pardon my ignorance when I ask, is this transfer of credit from one PAYG phone to someone else's account a facility which is specific to Indonesia, or is it more widespread?

    Or, heaven forbid, is it the product of an overactive PR department?

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  6. Steve Taylor
    Go

    Phone credit transfers

    > So, please pardon my ignorance when I ask, is this transfer of credit from one PAYG phone to someone else's account a facility which is specific to Indonesia, or is it more widespread?

    Widespread - I used to work for a company which did this with clients in Malaysia, the Philipines, Vietnam, India and Mexico.

    No idea about the reality or otherwise of the virus, but SMS based phone credit transfers - and to a lesser extent real world purchasing - are big business.

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  7. Riho

    Notice

    Actually you can send SMSs out without user ever noticing

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