Security experts named the malicious software "Skulls" and consider it an early warning of the damage hackers could do as they turn their malevolent talents to cell phones from computers.

"Hackers are simply trying to put it out there that it can be done," said Vincent Weafer, senior director of security response for Symantec Corp., a security software firm. "The motivation is to say [cell phones] aren't as secure as you think."

Mobile phones are a tempting target because they have become a part of everyday life. In addition, consumers are buying more sophisticated "smart phones" with Internet connections that provide an easier pathway for cell phone infections. Few phones come equipped with protection against malicious software, though some companies are starting to install it. Most cell phone users aren't on guard for attacks like those that periodically bring down computers worldwide, and at this point there is little they can do to protect themselves.

"The impact is potentially larger on the phone because we're not savvy about that," said Victor Kouznetsov, senior vice president of mobile solutions at McAfee Inc., a security software firm. "Also, the profile of a mobile society is a cross-section of society who are potentially less [technically] savvy than computer users."

Skulls is one of five malicious software programs attacking cell phones this year, security experts and analysts said. The scale of such attacks is hard to quantify because the federally funded CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University, which monitors viruses and other malicious software on the Internet, does not separately tally reports of such problems with cell phones.

Copyright: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13361-2004Nov25.html