Malware Found in Vodafone Device

A female employee from Panda Research Blogs found a malware on her newly purchased HTC Magic smart phone. The malware was identified as a program that steals Lineage passwords.

For those not familiar, Lineage is a Korean made MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game). It is an old title and has a slowly dwindling player population –mostly thanks to the newer Lineage II game sequel that has come out several years back.

Anyway, the malware has not caused any major damages and this is the first report of such an occurrence so there is the possibility that this report may be an isolated case. But in the event that it is not, the malware itself is not incredibly destructive (unless you actually play Lineage). The only real worry here is that Vodafone actually failed to protect its customer.

As a mobile network operator that provides handsets to their clients, it is also their responsibility to ensure that the product gets to the hands of the clients without any problems. Despite the fact that the problem can be rooted to many other reasons (internal employee mischief, supplier problems and others); the accountability of Vodafone in this instance is undeniable.

In any case, Vodafone is still in the middle of doing some serious cost cutting that has forced the company to close down 6 stores. About 375 job positions have been relieved of work due to redundancy. Some have raised concerns that Vodafone’s decision to just suddenly fire employees instead of giving them prior notice.

It would not be surprising that this malware incident may have been caused by a distraught employee. It is reported that union groups CWU and Prospect have already taken steps in helping out the 375 employees and are in talks with Vodafone regarding support and compensation.

Get to know more about the malware found on the HTC Magic at Know your Mobile.