August 25, 2005
Bluetooth Ads Prompt Virus Concerns
A newly developed Bluetooth advertising scheme could make mobile phone phones viruses more commonplace by teaching users bad habits, I.T. security experts said today, reports NewsFactor Network.
The technique, known as Bluestreaming, has been pioneered by British firm Filter UK. It involves beaming pictures and music direct to people's mobile phones.
"This is dangerous from a user behavior point of view," explained Patrick Runald, senior technical consultant at F-Secure.
"We're trying to tell people not to accept things on their phones if they are beamed at them. All mobile viruses rely on the users accepting them in order to spread."
The commercial director of Filter UK pointed out that the marketing method itself cannot be hijacked by mobile virus writers.
"It would be very difficult for a virus writer to spoof a campaign like this," commercial partner Fred Durman said.
"Mobile viruses are applications and phones will always ask if you want to download and activate an application. Since these are music and picture files there's no need for the request. Customers should never install unrecognized applications."
Related articles:
-- Bluetooth marketing and privacy concerns
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