During the past few months we've seen the first two viruses that affect the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile 2003 as well as the Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition). This article covers different scenarios where viruses can affect your Pocket PC (and possibly your PC), and how to prevent them.
WinCE4.Dust provides proof of concept
In July, the WinCE4.Dust (AKA WinCE4.Dust.A) virus was distributed by the elite hacker known as Ratter/29A. It is a proof-of-concept Pocket PC virus: it does not do anything malicious to your Pocket PC. It even asks you if it can infect your Pocket PC before doing so. To better understand the nuts and bolts of how the WinCE4. Dust virus infects your Pocket PC, you may want to read "Details Emerge on the First Windows Mobile Virus (Parts 1, 2 and 3)" by Cyrus Peikari, Seth Fogie, Ratter/29A, and InformIT at http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=337069.
Latest virus: Backdoor.Brador.A trojan
The latest virus is not so benevolent. The Backdoor.Brador.A (AKA WinCE/BackDoor-CHK) is a trojan that allows a remote user to upload, execute, and list or delete files from your Pocket PC while it is connected to the Internet. This virus can be prevented from doing its dirty work by simply not installing programs from unknown developers. To better understand the details of what the Backdoor.Brador.A virus does to your Pocket PC you can read "Reverse-Engineering the First Pocket PC Trojan, Part 1, and 2" By Cyrus Peikari, Seth Fogie, Ratter/29A, Jonathan Read, and InformIT at http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=340544. With the release of the Backdoor.Brador.A virus in the wild, users must now consider scanning their Pocket PCs for viruses.
Viruses Pocket PCs can't catch
There is one type of virus that will not work on the current generation of Pocket PCs—the script based viruses seen in applications like Outlook. This is because Pocket PCs do not have the scripting support that Windows offers on PCs. Also, the Pocket PC is immune to viruses that run on the PC. This is because the Pocket PC and the PC do not use the same microprocessor. The PC uses x86 microprocessors while Pocket PCs uses ARM microprocessors.
Cross-platform virus transfers
Since the Pocket PC can download programs as well as document files directly from the Internet, e-mail, memory cards, or even ActiveSync, users may transmit PC-type viruses from their Pocket PC to their PC. Programs or documents infected with PC-type viruses will not affect the Pocket PC. However, when those infected files are transferred from your Pocket PC to your PC via ActiveSync, e-mail or via a memory card reader, they can infect your PC.
Also, files infected with Pocket PC viruses can be safely stored on a PC. Again, this is because the PC cannot be infected by the same viruses that affect the Pocket PC. However, when these virus-infected Pocket PC files are transferred from your PC to your Pocket PC, the Pocket PC is then vulnerable. So, I highly recommend that you continue to use real time scanning of all files received or stored on your PC. Vendors such as McAfee, Trend Micro and Symantec offer comprehensive antivirus solutions for your PC. Just make sure you choose the option to update the antivirus definitions as often as possible.
Where do Smartphones stand?
Right now there are no known viruses for Smartphones. So, you may think the Smartphone is safe. However this situation can change at any time, just like it did with the Pocket PC. Also, right now none of the Pocket PC Antivirus applications work on the Smartphone. So, Smartphones users should make regular backups of their devices, and take care when installing applications from unknown sources.
Antivirus options for Pocket PCs
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