Windows Phone Thoughts: First PC/Pocket PC Cross-Platform Trojan Discovered

"The Mobile Malware Researchers Association (MARA) today announced that it has characterized the first malware to cross-infect a handheld phone or PDA from a binary on the desktop PC. The malware, a Trojan dubbed “crossover”, spreads from a Win32 desktop machine to a Windows Mobile Pocket PC handheld. Detailed analysis and the malware binary are available to antivirus companies and security experts who qualify for MARA membership, which is free."

This is just a proof-of-concept, so don't run for the hills yet... but the true long-term threats are starting to become clearer. To me, the idea of cross-platform malware is a significant next-generation threat, especially as our handheld devices gain faster network connections. While this trojan can't copy itself back to your PC, one could easily envision a virus that sits on your Pocket PC and collects sensitive data even after new AV definitions on your desktop are released and inoculate the PC. Does this mean we'll eventually need virus scanners on every Pocket PC? Probably. :? However, I think we're still in the watch-and-wait phase for a while longer.