First Palm virus spreads

Daniel Sorid

NEW YORK: Get ready for a new era in computer vulnerability.

The first virus to infect a handheld organizer was reported on Friday in the

form of a tiny file that rummages through Palm Inc. handheld computing devices,

ruining their capabilities.

While the virus, called Phage, seems not to have spread widely, one virus

expert said he expects the destructive file to be shared among virus writers and

given even greater capability to disguise itself and spread.

"It's the first real virus for any PDA ever, meaning that it actually is

a virus with the capability to spread further," said Mikko Hermanni

Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research at Finland-based F-Secure Corp. A PDA

is a personal digital assistant.

Other destructive files, called Trojans, have affected handheld devices, but

unlike viruses these do not spread as easily.

Hypponen said viruses such as Phage are often disguised as computer games or

pornographic images on Internet newsgroups and chatrooms.

"No doubt they're already sharing the source code for this virus,"

he said.

A spokesperson for Palm said the company had just heard about Phage and was

evaluating its impact.

Phage, which can be downloaded in seconds even from a slow Internet

connection, makes the screen go blank for a second as it runs, according to

Hypponen, who said the virus was anonymously transmitted to F-Secure.

During that period, it attaches the virus code to every program on the Palm,

though it does not affect database files.

Users can inadvertently spread the virus by transferring applications to

other Palm devices through an infrared port.

The only way to return the Palm's capabilities is to restore programs from a

backup - not a default option on Palm devices - or to download and re-install

all applications.

Data files, such as phone numbers and calendar entries, are by default backed

up.

In May, a computer virus dubbed the "Love Bug" swept the world,

shutting down e-mail systems at major companies and government agencies.

The virus spread through email, sending a copy of itself to anyone in a

user's address book.

Hypponen said it is only a matter of time before a similar virus is written

for handheld computers, sending malicious programs over wireless Internet

connections.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.