A variant of a previous smartphone worm is now spreading not only via Bluetooth, but also via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages, anti-virus vendors reported Monday.

According to security vendor F-Secure, the Mabir.A is actually a variant of a previous worm, Cabir, aimed at smartphones based on the Symbian platform. The new worm appears to be written by the same author using the same source code as Cabir, according to F-Secure.

As before, Mabir.A can search for an open Bluetooth connection, then sends a copy of the worm to that phone. The new variant also can wait for SMS or MMS message to arrive. It then sends a copy of it self to the sender posing as an MMS reply message, according to F-Secure.

F-Secure and other vendors have antivirus products available to protect users from this worm. However, F-Secure said it became aware of the virus even though it acknowledged that it has not yet been found in the wild.

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