So this is news to me, but apparently technology can be used for evil. I thought that was just stuff found in James Bond movies, but no, apparently there actually are bad people out there. Not to single out China, though their food does leave me hungry again after a couple of hours, but some hackers in the Far East really did a number on smartphone users there.
Hackers managed to create a zombie virus that unlocked phones and stole information off of victims’ SIM cards. Once the hackers got that information, they relentlessly sent out text messages to that victim’s entire contact list containing links to games and other media. Those links were infected as well, so anyone who actually clicked on a link also got their SIM card hacked and the circle continued. In all, over a million smartphones have been infected so far.
What’s even worse, people who fell victim to the virus were also charged for the spam text messages. It’s estimated that nearly $300,000 in spam text charges have been racked up every day. This isn’t the first time that hackers have targeted smartphones, and it probably won’t be the last.
Symantec, which makes the popular Norton Antivirus, launched a line of antivirus platforms specifically geared towards smartphones this past spring. But in the absence of that, just don’t click on links embedded in text messages.
Posted by David Yi, Social Media and SEO Assistant at Wireless Emporium