Understanding the Spreading Patterns of Mobile Phone Viruses

Abstract

Viruses and Mobile Phones: While traditional cellphones have been relatively immune to viruses, smartphones (like Palm, Blackberry, iPhone, and many Nokia brands) that can share programs and data with each other could potentially be vulnerable to virus epidemics. Why then haven't we experienced any major mobile virus outbreak so far?Wang et al.(p. 1071; published online 2 April; see the Perspective byHavlin) believe that the answer is related to the spreading patterns possible in the current mobile phone systems. They studied the anonymized billing record of a mobile phone company, representing the calling patterns and the coordinates of the closest mobile phone tower each time a group of 6.2 million mobile phone subscribers used their phone. While a Bluetooth virus could reach all susceptible users given sufficient time, its spread, limited by human mobility, was relatively slow. In contrast, MMS viruses would have an explosive spreading pattern, but could only reach the group of individuals that know each other and carry the same phone. Thus, no major virus outbreak is likely until one operating system encompasses a larger fraction of the total smartphone market.