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Destructive Palm Virus Discovered

Though chance of infection is low, a new virus's existence affirms the growing threat to handhelds.

Terho Uimonen, IDG News Service

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Owners of Palm OS-based devices beware: Researchers at an antivirus software company have discovered a new virus carrying a destructive load that can infect Palm OS applications and replicate itself.

The destructive nature of the Palm OS/Phage virus distinguishes it from the recent Liberty Crack Trojan-horse program that also was designed for the Palm platform, antivirus software vendor Network Associates says.

However, as the virus has not yet been found outside controlled environments, the researchers at the company's McAfee Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team unit have given it a low risk assessment, according to a company statement.

When executed, the virus fills the screen of a Palm OS-based device with a dark-gray box and terminates the application that is running. Then it replicates itself to other applications, says the statement.

More information about the virus can be found on the Web at McAfee AVERT.

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