Mob game 'virus' was developer gaffe - security firm

By Games Industry.biz Published 12 August, 2004

"It didn't work as planned."

Security experts have quashed reports that a pirated mobile videogame was host to the world's first malicious mobile phone virus, after it emerged that the supposed 'Trojan horse' component was originally inserted as a copy protection measure by the game's developer.

According to reports that sprang up yesterday, a pirated version of the game Mosquitos found on file-sharing networks and download sites would install a program that sent out unauthorised SMS text messages while the game was running.

Initial reports suggested that the malicious code in the game, which runs on the Symbian Series 60 operating system (used by mobile phones including the Nokia N-Gage), would send the text messages to a premium rate number - and had been added by the programmers who cracked the software.

However, according to anti-virus researcher F-Secure, the Trojan element was originally inserted by the developer in an effort to alert them to unlicensed copies. The idea was that the program would send a message alerting the developer to the use of unlicensed software. The service has since been shut down due to complaints, and text messages to the number are no longer charged at premium rates.

"It did not work the way it was supposed to; they had complaints and removed it from the game," F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen told the BBC News website. In its advisory on the subject, F-Secure said: "This functionality was intended to be a copy-protecting technique - it didn't work as planned and the whole functionality backfired."

"The premium rate contracts for the phone numbers have been terminated, so although old versions of the game still send hidden SMS messages, it only costs the nominal fee of sending the message itself. Current versions of this game no longer have this hidden functionality, but 'cracked' versions of Mosquitos still float in P2P network - and they still send these messages."

F-Secure advised mobile phone users only to download their software from authorised vendors.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 8 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mortykun #1 8 years ago

    who was the software house of this game? I'd like to know so that I never buy any games from them, . . . ever.
    Edited by 1 at 12/08/04 @ 11:55

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #2 8 years ago

    A company called "Ojom" apparently.

  • gamingdave #3 8 years ago

    So does a bought copy of the game send the SMS, or only those not downloaded from the official source?

    If its the latter then I dont see how anyone can complain. If a pirated game crashed my PC I dont think id have a grounds to complain.

  • Tweakmonkey #4 8 years ago

    Well, it's not right to make users pay for messages sent from the game. They would have been better to just disable the game if it was warezed. If it's a premium rate charge then they could be making illegal profits because there was no warning as such to the user.

  • brokenkey #5 8 years ago

    only the version that was released by the developer on the P2p networks sends out the SMS.

    speaking as a mobile operator, I've got grounds to complain that its a misuse of premium SMS. I'm not happy.

  • gamingdave #6 8 years ago

    well if legitamate versions send out the SMS its inexcusable (sp?)

  • brokenkey #7 8 years ago

    Well I've now got a reply from the developer and they say that the above story is wrong, that they developed a try-before-you-buy version which charged via SMS but that the code was never activated by the program.

    Someone else then patched the game and activated the code.

  • Freek #8 8 years ago

    Hang on, you're running a pirated version of the game and you have the nerve to complaine to the developer it isn't working properly??

  • brokenkey #9 8 years ago

    No, I'm a mobile network operator who's pissed off that one of his shortcodes has been used for this purpose. Do pay attention.

  • Johnson #10 8 years ago

    Maybe this is how developers will combat piracy in the future. Release games that are apparently warez and then have them incur significant charges during use. Makes the payment demons behind Everquest look like a bunch of sissies.

  • Freek #11 8 years ago

    I was using "you" in a general as in, the person hwo complains his game doesn't work.

    The version on p2p networks is a pirated copy of the game, you're barking up the wrong tree.

  • masterson #12 8 years ago

    "who was the software house of this game? I'd like to know so that I never buy any games from them, . . . ever. "

    Well there wouldn't be a problem if you'd actually purchased it. I think this is pretty funny actually. Leeching off the leechers, oh sweet irony...

  • 3william56 #13 8 years ago

    Bl**dy genius. Give the dialler scam artists the idea, then sit back and watch them infect as many pirate games as possible. Result - cheapscates become paranoid that pirate copies are going to cost them a mint on the sly, and bingo - a *far* more effective way of reducing piracy than any anti copy measure. How long before this spreads to pirate PC software with viruses, adware, spyware and diallers?

    Backfired? Not a chance. If anything, it could be the most effective anti piracy measure yet. Someone's thinking out of the box.

  • brokenkey #14 8 years ago

    Someone's thinking very selfishly.

    They had no connection to the shortcodes they put in their code - it could just as easily have been your mobile or home phone number. In cases of dialler fraud, the numbers are usually terminated. So imagine if your phone company phoned you up and said "look, we know its not your fault, but we are going to terminate your phone number anyway" ?

  • masterson #15 8 years ago

    "If a pirated game crashed my PC I dont think id have a grounds to complain."

    They would if it was Doom 3... :)

  • Tweakmonkey #16 8 years ago

    This is insane - this isn't thinking 'outside the box'. It would be fraud if the devlopers did this kind of thing to stop pirating, because they can't just charge us willy nilly without getting our permission. Pirated software or not - wtf! If any game publisher tries this stunt they will not be getting any of my money legally or illegally.

  • 3william56 #17 8 years ago

    It's only fraud if they did it on legitimately bought games with a kosher EULA that didn't mention the dialing up and the costs.

    If you download a stolen / pirated version which then you are on your own. If it includes a dialler/adware/spam/virus, how'd you know whether the punishment payload came from the developer, or was added by the person originally copying the game, or some hacker?

    The same tactic has been used by some music companies (I remember a Madonna track being the test run). You can't stop people copying and Kazaa'ing files, but you can flood the net with crap quality copies, p0rn with the same name, white noise or whatever, to make it a lottery when you download. Add to this the risk of losing money, and all the pathetic little cheapskates stealing music and software will really have to watch out.

    If I was ID, I'd have flooded P2P networks with massive, bugged or non-functional files purporting to be Doom3. Serve light fingered little to$$ers right if they spend all day downloading useless crap.

  • p3rks #18 8 years ago

    I think the point is not that developers would do this, but that now the idea is out there, the scammers will see this as a great way to get through... They will effectively do the job for the developers, its a win-win for everybody except the stealing scamps trying to get something for nothing.

    Its not so bad for the music or film industries because they can make money elsewhere, its not *just* about people buying an album/film for their own home. Not so for games, there are no gigs to go to, or cinemas - if you download a rip off game and it bakes your pc/phone, or makes expensive calls/texts, tough sh1t, you should've paid for it.