Cell phone virus suspect arrested in Spain

The Spanish police have arrested a 28-year-old man suspected of having created and distributed over 20 different variants of the Cabir and Commwarrior worms to more than 115,000 cell phones. The Spanish media report that investigators have announced the apprehension of the suspect in Valencia after a seven-month investigation. It is the first time that anyone has been arrested in Spain on such a charge, but as these worms are three and two years old respectively, a surprising amount of time apparently elapsed before an investigation was initiated.

The investigators say that the worms only infect Bluetooth-enabled cell phones running the Symbian operating system. The worms were apparently spread through MMS messages that purported to contain erotic photos, sports information or antivirus software. The police say that they have so far caused several million euros in damage.

(mba)