A Trojan which uses infected PCs to send spam messages to mobile phone users has been discovered. Delf-HA Trojan horse sends spam SMS messages by using the free "Send a text message" facility found on the websites of several Russian mobile network operators. Infected PCs download instructions on the content of junk SMS messages from a separate website.

Only a small number of instances of the Trojan horse have been sighted so far, and the junk message it generates are confined to Russia. SMS messages are sent to numbers with the +7921 prefix (followed by six randomly generated digits) and to +7911 (followed by six randomly generated digits). The attack is significant only in illustrating the twisted ingenuity of spamming scumbags.

"We're getting used to the idea of infected PCs being used to send email spam but this is taking the idea one step forward creating a ‘botnet for spamming mobiles’", said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at anti-virus firm Sophos. ®

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