Bandar Seri Begawan –An SMS spam virus which has infected certain types of smartphones and operating system (OS) of mobile phones is currently being experienced by several B-Mobile customers. Although the number is not alarmingly high, customers should still be mindful and take precautionary steps as to not let their mobile phones get infected.

At a press conference yesterday at B-Mobile HQ, technical representative suggested that all mobile phones infected with the SMS virus must quickly get their phones reformatted. "Failure to do so will result in them infecting other users who are on their contact list," he added.

The spokesperson said that due to its continuous spamming nature, the virus will cause traffic congestion in the network. Without customers realising, the virus will send multiple SMS to any random numbers, invalid phone numbers and even international numbers that will result in service delays, and possible hike up the customers’ phone bills or eat away their prepaid credits.

This SMS virus is known to be a self-replicating Trojan that causes mobile phones to send high volumes of SMSes to international or unknown numbers without the customers’ knowledge. The Trojan is a pirated version of the anti-theft software Guardian v0.95 which contains a bad configuration file. This virus resides at Mobile Memory and tries to send SMS automatically to the predefined numbers. The virus usually infects mobile phones with Symbian OS, which was found to be more prone to being infected with the virus.

If the numbers of infected mobile phones increase, it will definitely pose a threat to the quality of service in B-Mobile’s network.

The virus gives very little indication that it has infected the user's mobile phone and this adds to its dangerous nature. It is not exactly known how these virus are “contracted” and how they “spread” but customers are advised to always keep their Bluetooth devices switched off and not to accept any unknown or unauthorised files or transfers. Subscribers affected by this SMS virus may be experiencing a lesser quality of service, such as delays in receiving or sending SMS; network congestion when attempting to make calls and even slower broadband speed;

B-Mobile is currently monitoring the network and the number of users infected with this virus. If customers receive a message or notification from B-Mobile informing them that their phones have been infected and requesting for them to reformat their phones, then it is strongly urged and advised that the customers reformat their phones immediately. Any memory card inserted in the phone should also be reformatted.

Any delay of failure to do so may result in their lines being temporarily suspended or barred to avoid any compromise in the network quality and also to stop any possible charges unnecessarily incurred by the customer.

Barring process will start this August 2011 and shall be conducted on a continuous process. Subscribers with infected mobile phones will be notified via SMS and barred on the same day. No further warnings will be given.

B-Mobile will reconnect the subscribers' services once the customer’s phone is free from the SMS virus.

For further info, pls contact Nurul @ 8161833