| Courtesy of NortonLifeLock |
Until recently, a computer virus
was something you contracted by clicking on a link or an ad that then had you
download a piece of malicious code otherwise known as malware. If you were
lucky, your system's anti-malware program picked it up and eliminated it before
it could do any real harm. If you were not, then your hard drive was corrupted
to the point where it either slowed to a crawl, popped up hundreds of ads, or
froze up completely. So news of a new virus would seem to be no news at all.
Except that in this case, Android phones in Europe have been infected via text
messaging with a new virus called Mazar. Once installed, this malware redirects
all web traffic on the infected smartphone through a proxy that allows
cybercriminals to harvest personal and financial information from victims.
While the virus has not yet spread across the Atlantic, it is only a matter of
time.