Cabir is a malware that started as the very first virus which was designed to attack smartphones. Before that time, which was precisely in the month of June 2004, the concept of malware attack was only limited to the PC. The virus was originally named Caribe by its developers, but the researchers didn’t want that name to stick. This is because the researchers took great pleasure in renaming the virus with names that they came up with after the virus had been introduced under the name of its programmer. This is so that it does not fuel the ego of the author. So the virus that was introduced under the name Caribe was later renamed very close to the name of one of the researchers that worked on its investigation and thus, it is now known and remembered as the Cabir virus.
Cabir is a virus which was as we disclosed earlier released in the year 2004 and was developed by a group of hackers known as 29A. This virus was designed specifically to target the Nokia series 60 which was a very popular choice amongst the mobile phones users worldwide at the time. The virus spread with the name Carie appearing on the screen of the mobile phone and it later spread itself by seeking others devices including other phones, printers and game consoles all of which were within the Bluetooth range of the infected phone. The virus attacked by destroying the files and forced these devices to dial numbers in the 900 series which were amongst the very expensive calls. The virus also initiated the smartphones to dial 911 at times. The ultimate result of this attack was that the devices were receiving so much traffic that they refused to offer services to its users. The virus had spread to more than 20 different countries including US, China, Russia and Finland and had targeted one of the greatest smartphone companies of the time.
Before we can classify this particular virus, we should first determine what a zero-day exploit is. A Zero-day exploit is a vulnerability which attacks the same day on which it becomes known to the people. This is a vulnerability that takes advantage of the unpreparedness of the researchers and manages to inflict damage before the researchers are able to counteract its effects. The Cabir virus under this definition classifies as a zero-day exploit. This is because it is the very first virus that had targeted smartphones and the researchers had not even anticipated the effects that the virus would inflict let alone dealing with those effects.
The creation of Cabir was not backed by any major motive. The 29A were not what comes to mind when we define the modern day cybercriminal. Their main intent was just to write and test new virus technologies. When we think about the time and the surrounding technological innovation that could be seen during 2004, it becomes easier to understand that malware was not created in spite and with the intent to bring down an enemy. The objective at the time was mere to enjoy the recognition that came from designing a threat to technology. All of these assumptions can be proved when we observe the nature of the attack that was initiated by Cabir. Apart from sending the malware code over Bluetooth, the main thing that the virus did was to drain the telephone battery pretty quickly. This was because since the virus was attempting repeatedly to search for nearby Bluetooth connections, the practice put a great load on the phone’s battery.
When we compare Cabir to the modern day smartphone malware, one can easily call it harmless. This is because this virus did not try to send any messages to the affected device, it did not intercept information, and it did not compromise the privacy of the smartphone user. This virus did not cause as much inconvenience as a smartphone virus may today. Harmless as it may be, we can also not deny the fact that since Cabir was the very first smartphone malware, it made many further developments possible and extended encouragement to the new malware developers at the time. Cabir was the very first domino which brought the security of the entire technological system crumbling down twelve years before today.
So how could the Cabir virus have been controlled by the researchers all the way back in 2004? Since the virus attacked at a time when the concept of smartphone viruses was remote, antivirus software for smartphones would not have been an option for they had been developed and improved upon following the attack. There are however a few security measures that we could have followed. Since the virus multiplied through Bluetooth, shutting down Bluetooth connectivity temporarily could have been an option. The second option could have been to take a do over and reinstall the operating system on the smartphones of the day for devices that had become infected. People could have been informed to keep their Bluetooth devices off when in crowded areas where there was a greater likelihood of catching the virus.
Cabir was an innocent stunt from a group of very sophisticated malware developers and was the beginning of the threat to cyber security. There is one more thing that Cabir did not have in common with the malware of today which is that it did not cost innumerable dollars in damage and threaten the financial security of the technology users.
Works Cited
Kaspersky, Eugene. 10 YEARS SINCE THE FIRST SMARTPHONE MALWARE – TO THE DAY. 15 June 2014. <https://eugene.kaspersky.com/2014/06/15/10-years-since-the-first-smartphone-malware-to-the-minute/>.
Khandewal, Swati. The 10th anniversary of the World's first Mobile Malware 'Cabir'. 27 January 2014. <http://thehackernews.com/2014/01/World-first-Mobile-Malware-Cabir-hacking-news.html>.
Rouse, Margaret. zero-day exploit definition. July 2010. <http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/zero-day-exploit>.
