Bird flu worries eclipsed by phone flu and wireless worms

A GAGGLE OF BOFFINS has come up with a mathematical model showing how computer worms could potentially spread through the world in the same way that the flu and other air-born viruses do.

In a hellish Outbreak like scenario, without the monkeys or excess blood, the model shows how wireless worms like the Cabir and Commwarrior would be able to rapidly infect thousands of portable devices around them in airports, planes and hectic workplaces. The risk of a worm epidemic grows daily as handheld devices become ever more interactive.

The model was developed by an expert on infectious diseases from London's Imperial College, Christopher Rhodes, and a researcher from British Telecom's lab in Suffolk, Maziar Nekovee. They reckon their work could be crucial in setting up a defence system against such catastrophic outbreaks.

Their statistical model, based on accepted paradigms showing the trajectories of viral outbreaks, known as a standard mass-action mixing model, looks mainly at the increased mobility of people carrying around worm infected or exposed (immune deficient) devices, like a throng of people walking through Heathrow with Bluetooth enabled mobile phones. Doing the maths, if the people moved in straight lines, at fixed speeds, then any infected phone would have a very high probability of infecting others within their range.

Eric Chen, a chief researcher at Symantec Security Response in the US, told New Scientist that "A Bluetooth worm's ability to spread is rooted in person-to-person contact," but said that reducing the risk of being infected by a wireless worm was simple. Switch off the Bluetooth when you're not using it. This would be the trendy equivalent of the Japanese wearing surgical face masks as they go about their daily business. µ