PDAs under attack

Brador is a classic Trojan backdoor program: it opens the infected machine for remote administration. Brador is 5632 bytes in size and it infects handhelds running Pocket PC.

After the backdoor is launched, it creates an svchost.exe file in the Windows autorun folder, thus maintaining full control over the system every time the handheld is turned on.

Brador then identifies the machine's IP address and sends it to the author, informing him that the handheld is in the Internet and the backdoor is active. Finally, Brador opens port 2989 and awaits further commands.

Brador is created to allow the master full control over the infected PDA via the port that the Trojan opens. Brador is programmed to upload and download files and execute a series of further commands. Like all backdoors, Brador cannot spread by itself: it can only arrive as an email attachment, be downloaded from the Internet or uploaded along with other data from a desktop.

"We were certain that a viable malicious program for PDAs would appear soon after the first proof of concept viruses emerged for mobile phones and Windows Mobile", commented Eugene Kaspersky, Head of Anti-Virus Research at Kaspersky Labs, "WinCE.Brador.a is a full-scale malicious program ready to go: unlike proof of concept malware, Brador has a complete set of destructive functions typical for backdoors."

According to information received by the Kaspersky Virus Lab, Brador was probably written by a Russian virus coder. The Trojan was attached to an email with a Russian sender address and Russian text inside.

Interestingly enough, the author is offering to sell the client part for the Trojan to all interested parties, which means that there is a real chance that the backdoor may be bought by somebody who will use it commercially (bot network creation, for instance). Virus writers are turning professional with a vengeance.

"PDA users face a real danger and we can be sure that the computer underground will snatch at the chance to attack PDAs and mobile phones in the nearest future," added Eugene Kaspersky, "malware development for mobiles is passing through the same stages as malware for desktops: we will probably see a serious outbreak of viruses for handhelds sometime soon."

Kaspersky Labs has already updated the antivirus databases with protection against Brador. A detailed description of Brador (www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=1984055) is available in the Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia.

For more information contact our local office:

Kaspersky Lab Benelux
Havensingel 1a
5211 TX 's-Hertogenbosch
(t) +31 73 6154860
(f) +31 73 6121830

Press Contact: Dick Gehéniau, dick@kasperskylab.nl