A Survey On Restraining Virus Propagation In Mobile Networks

Mobile communication systems are becoming increasingly significant and ubiquitous in people’s daily lives. Due to the enormous growth in mobile devices, virus propagation in mobile virus is an important security concern. A mobile virus is nothing but malicious computer software that targets mobile phones and causing the collapse of the system and leakage of confidential information. In the wireless communication viruses can even jam wireless services by transmitting thousands of spam messages and diminish the quality of voice communication. Because of the virus propagation, there is leakage of privacy data, additional service charges and exhaustion of battery power. These malware or virus is cell-phone worms that are malicious codes that exploit vulnerabilities in cell-phone software and propagate in networks via popular services such as Bluetooth and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). Worms are devastating to both users and network. A user can be instinctively charged for several messages created by the worm and the phone battery will be rapidly drained. Other reported worm damages expand from stealing user data and privacy to destroying hardware. Due to the severe damages of the mobile virus, it is significant for the users to gain a deep understanding of the propagation mechanisms of mobile viruses. So, in these circumstances there is a critical requirement for both users and service providers to further recognize the propagation mechanisms of mobile viruses and to deploy proficient countermeasures. Key terms: Mobile Networks, Phone virus, virus propagation, security, malware