National Science Foundation scientists conducted a study to find out why there have been no major outbreaks of viral infection despite the fact that more than 80 percent of Americans use them. Researchers gathered calling and mobility data from more than 6 million mobile phone users to create a comprehensive picture of the threat mobile phone viruses pose to users. The study was published May 22, 2009, in Science and written by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi.
The scientists found that a highly fragmented market share effectively has hindered outbreaks so far. However, phones could get viruses if a single operating system becomes common for phones. Scientists expect the event to happen soon because of the 150 percent annual growth rate of smart phones.
Mobile Phone Viruses Spread Through Two Ways
A mobile phone virus can spread by two mechanisms, said Barabasi in the study. Viruses affecting a phone with Bluetooth technology can infect all Bluetooth-activated phones in a 10-30 meter radius. Multimedia messaging system virus spreads using an address book of the device. Hybrid viruses would harm both types of technology, he said.
This study continued previous research on cell phones that used data to create a predictive model of human mobility patterns. The current work used this model to simulate Bluetooth virus infection scenarios, finding that viruses will infect all susceptible handsets, but the rate is slow, being limited by human behavioral patterns.
This characteristic suggests there should be sufficient time to deploy countermeasures, such as antiviral software to prevent major Bluetooth outbreaks. In contrast, spread of multimedia messaging system viruses is not restricted by human behavioral patterns. However, the spread of these types of viruses are constrained because the number of susceptible devices is currently smaller.
Barabasi said that as the world becomes more connected, people face unprecedented challenges. The research found that multimedia messaging system viruses spread faster than Bluetooth viruses.
Previous Research Shows Vulnerability for Phones
Earlier research from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005 found that phones are more like computers and thus susceptible to computer viruses, said Adrian Perrig, assistant professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Perrig explained that Americans safeguard computers, but they don’t think about protecting phones. Carnegie Mellon University engineers created a way to detect cell phone bugs.
Carnegie Mellon University’s technique allows an external host, such as a laptop computer or even another cell phone, to look into the memory of a device in a way that even malicious code executing on the device cannot hide.
The scientists believe viruses will afflict cell phones in the near future. Research is needed to develop anti-virus applications for phones.
