Fact:
there are NO viruses for any Symbian OS 9 smartphone
- the OS makes access to dangerous 'propagating' functions restricted
to proper 'signed' (checked) applications. So you if you own a S60 3rd
Edition or UIQ 3-based smartphone you can stop worrying permanently.
Fact:
no-one can pass a virus to
your Symbian/S60/UIQ smartphone over Bluetooth or MMS without your
knowledge
Fact: the Symbian (pre-OS 9, pre-S60 3rd Edition) 'viruses' you read about
aren't
really in the wild, in the same way that Windows viruses are. Most
Symbian malware has been created as 'concept' software and sent
straight to an anti-virus vendor (who naturally make a pretty penny out
of advising people that they need a-v utility software). Because it's
realistically impossible for these apps to spread in most sensible
societies, you simply will not come across them in the real world
unless you happen to hang around with teenagers with older handsets
bent on trying all the latest trojan-infested 'warez' (see below).
Fact: it's
impossible for any
piece of malicious software to make your smartphone unusable. Even if
you allow a piece of 'malware' (i.e. A malicious program) onto your
unit, it can't touch the OS and applications in ROM, which means you
can always do a hard reset (typing in ‘*#7370#’ works with most Series
60 smartphones, 'Dial'+'*'+'3' while powering on for newer ones,
procedures for UIQ and Series 80 units are in the manual) to get back
to a working system.
Fact: the
biggest hazard
in the Symbian world is the 'warez' scene, where unscrupulous people
'crack' commercial software and then put it up for free download. Quite
apart from the ethical considerations about putting genuine Symbian
authors out of business, these cracked versions are the perfect
opportunity for a malicious cracker to insert routines designed to
cripple your phone or scramble your data.
You can stay clear of such malware by downloading your Symbian OS third
party software from recognised software sites and staying clear of
warez. This isn't just me quoting a party line here - this is simply
practising safe computing. Only download from trusted sources.
(C) 2004 - 2008 Steve Litchfield
(after reading this article,i've decided to remove all my aniviruses
from my phone...they've done nothing but to waste my battery and RAM
)
HOPE IT HELPS...
