A statement on the Web site of Rutgers, which is located in New Jersey, added that rootkits attack a computer's operating system, and can only be detected with a specialized tool known as a virtual machine monitor. According to the university, such monitors demand more processing resources and battery power than a portable phone can currently support.

Responding to queries from ZDNet Asia, Ganapathy noted that following the presentation, the team had been contacted by "a couple of antivirus companies showing interest in the work".

Mobile spyware not new
Executives from Sophos, however, have dismissed the new research, describing it as "simply rehashing something old in mobile phone insecurity".

Paul Ducklin, the security vendor's Asia-Pacific head of technology, told ZDNet Asia that the Rutgers computer scientists essentially wrote a piece of spyware application, allowed the software to be installed on a phone and then recorded on video the application in action.

"We know mobile phone spyware is possible because it already exists," Ducklin said in an e-mail interview. "There are even commercial mobile spyware products one can buy, for example, to keep tabs on your children--though, of course, these can be used for other much less worthy purposes."

In a blog post on Tuesday, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said the rootkit is not a significant concern at the moment.

News Source :- http://www.zdnetasia.com

Back to news...