Abhinav Lal

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Posted on 08-04-2011

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The ZeuS Trojan attack is now affecting BlackBerry devices and has infected many worldwide, according to Trend Micro, a security research firm. Vanishing after being installed, the Trojan, specifically known as BBOS_ZITMO.B, primarily hijacks the SMS ability of the BlackBerry device, after sending an “App Installed OK” message to a botnet administrator in the United Kingdom.

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When infected, the BlackBerry devices can perform a list of operations as commanded by the botnet administrator, as listed below, none of which can be directly observed by the phone’s user. To be noted, is that even if tracked down and blocked, the administrator can always forward the command privileges to a new administrator number, with the Set Administrator command.

• Display SMS
• Delete/Drop SMS
• Forward SMS
• Block Calls
• Remove Block Calls
• Set Administrator
• On/Off
• Add Sender
• Remove Sender
• Set Sender
• Block/Unblock Phone Numbers

According to Trend Micro, Symbian and Windows Mobile phones are also being affected by their own versions of the trojan, namely SYMBOS_ZBOT.B and WINCE_ZBOT.B.

Apart from general caution when downloading apps or visiting webpages, Trend Micro specifically warns people using mobile banking and commerce features to be extra cautious. Installing antivirus applications, and regularly updating them is always recommended.