21 June 2004

A South Korean Internet security firm unveiled a vaccine for mobile handsets. AhnLab on Monday said it has developed a virus vaccine, dubbed V3 Mobile, in cooperation with its affiliate AhnLab Uniware and the nations top mobile carrier SK Telecom.

This follows the discovery of the Cabir Mobile Worm/Virus

The new-concept cure can shield cell phones based on wireless Internet protocol interoperability (WIPI) from mobile viruses.

WIPI is a locally-developed middle ware, which enables people to download games and music files by accessing the Internet on the go through mobile terminals.

``We will commercialize V3 Mobile from the fall in cooperation with SK Telecom,¡¯¡¯ an AhnLab spokesperson said. ``Existing WIPI-phone users will be also able to download the software.¡¯¡¯

With V3 Mobile, customers can check for viruses in their cell phones, download programs while monitoring malicious codes in a real-time basis and update the vaccine engine.

The market evaluated the achievement in a positive fashion with AhnLab¡¯s share prices shooting up by 7.4 percent to 13,100 won as of yesterday afternoon.

In addition, the vaccine is likely to offer AhnLab further growth momentum as the government plans to require new cell phone models to use WIPI from next year.

Mobile viruses are emerging as a new headache with the advent of the proof-of-concept program called ``Cabir,¡¯¡¯ which gained prominence earlier this month.

The world¡¯s first mobile virus infected cell phones using mobile phone operating system Symbian, which is adopted by Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson and spread based on Bluetooth, a platform for short-range wireless connection.

The virus poses little threat and just writes ``Caribe¡¯¡¯ on the display screen every time an infected phone is powered on. But experts warn it could pave the way for a new generation of mobile bugs, which will be as worrisome as familiar computer viruses.

``Although Cabir proved to be relatively harmless, it gives a glimpse of what is in store in the future as more advanced PC-like mobile devices continue to hit the market,¡¯¡¯ AhnLab official Cho Ki-heum said.