Patrick Hayati

'We know that some people are working on viruses that will attack mobile phones and viruses that affect PDAs already exist,' says Patrick Hayati, Regional Director of Network Associates.

'This will be the wave of the future. It's major new territory for hackers and the sort of sensitive information contained in mobile phones is an irresistible target for them.'

Meantime, McAfee will continue to defend humble PCs and company networks from viruses and unwanted intrusions. Its latest system performs updates whenever you log on without the user having to do anything.

In the past month in the UAE local telecoms operator Etisalat has introduced a virus detection and removal system for email, and this was a McAfee system.

'This is a relatively new technology and the technology really spoke for itself in this application,' says Mr. Hayati. 'There are more than 400,000 Internet users in the UAE alone. Now everyone has mail with viruses removed'.

At the corporate level Mr. Hayati says that the general level of protection for networks is still inadequate in the region, and that much of his bread-and-butter work is spreading the word to companies.

Often a visit from Network Associates will follow a virus attack and the firm offers a detection service that will quickly identify what has gone wrong. Then it can make a recommendation for action.

'Many government departments, the police and military in this region are also getting protection against possible cyber terrorism. We think the threat in this region is considerable with regional political tensions and can protect websites against hacking.

'Our intrusion detection systems also now go one step further and act to prevent intrusion which is a big step forward in this process. It is our role to make it safe to use the Internet.'

Back to concerns about mobile hackers of the future, and Mr. Hayati points out that an increasing number of people in the Middle East are using their mobile phones as more than just a communication device.

'As more people surf the web, send and receive emails and download and share video content on their mobile phones, the new threat that is emerging is worms and viruses spread via mobile and handheld devices,' he notes.

'The processing power of the average mobile device is as powerful now as personal computers were five or six years ago'.

According to Mercer Management Consulting, a leading consulting organization, hacking and worm outbreaks on mobile devices in 2005 could infect 30% of the population worldwide. Mobile phone manufacturers in the region are increasingly market devices with increased functionality and the ability to automate tasks.

'It is this automation that hackers and virus writers look for to create their malicious code,' says Mr. Hayati.

'Moreover, as the mobile industry moves to standard operating platforms like Symbian or Microsoft to make application development easier, vulnerability to attacks will also increase. Hackers will find it easy to develop malicious threats that can infect millions of devices in a very short period.

'New devices that offer Bluetooth capability, or Wi-Fi networking in case of PDAs will also increase vulnerabilities to attacks. This increased connectivity allows for multiple ways of Internet browsing and email usage, the main source of malicious code. Moreover, as networks switch from 2G to 3G, the potential offered to hackers intent on doing damage is even higher.

'Hackers are solely interested in writing viruses that can cause maximum damage, and 3G networks provide greater scope for doing this. Viruses or worms embedded in downloaded video content or applications may be able to disable the handset, cause repeat dialing to premium numbers or even steal personal information stored on the phone.'