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Details Emerge on the First Windows Mobile Virus (Part 2 of 3)

  • Sep 10, 2004
In part II we hear from Ratter, the author of the first proof-of-concept virus for Windows Mobile. He begins by tracing the history of how he came into virus research.
See Part 1 of this article series.
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Introduction

On July 16, 2004, after a day spent finishing writing my new virus, I (Ratter) sent a copy of the bug to the leading antivirus (AV) firms for analysis. Within a few hours I began to receive their first emails and finished analyses. The next day, the AV firms launched their PR machine; that was the start of the media hype that in essence is still ongoing. Sometimes the AV firms' information is fairly accurate, but sometimes it's incorrect. It could be said that the more we virus code researchers are distanced from the source (in this case, the AV firms), the more the information is misinterpreted and confused. That was one of the main reasons why I decided to accept the offer from security writers Cyrus Peikari and Seth Fogie to write a little story about why and how I created this proof-of-concept virus.

What led me to the idea of writing a Pocket PC virus? What is 29A? Is virus writing legal or at least justifiable? I'll try to answer these questions, even though it will reflect my own opinion, with which some individuals might disagree.

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