Palm Viruses

Viruses Spyware PDA virus Prevention Hoaxes Security Cookbook

How do you get a PDA virus?

There are viruses written for PDAs and Email equipped cellphones. Because the Palm operating system has a bigger market share than Windows CE most PDA viruses attack Palm. McAfee, Symantec, and others sell antivirus software for PDA's.

Synching
If you open an email attachment containing a PDA virus on your PC, the next time you synch, the virus will be transmitted to your PDA.

Beaming
Most PDAs have the ability to transmit information to and from other PDAs via infrared beaming. Your PDA has an alert to tell you data is being beamed to you, but some viruses can override that alert and infiltrate your system in a covert manner.

Network
If your PDA has wireless access to a network or to the Internet, virus files can reach your handheld via email or other modes of network data transmission.

-- written by Graeme Beckett
from Help Desk on the National Capital FreeNet (Jun 2002)