A virus designed to demonstrate security holes in Microsoft's Windows CE operating system has been identified this weekend. Although the virus does not cause any damage to handheld computers, it does point out security holes in the OS.
The WinCE4.Duts.A virus (sometimes known as Dust) only affects devices running ARM processors and infects Pocket PC PE files in the root directory, according to Bucharest-based Softwin S.R.L., which first discovered the virus on Saturday.
The virus raises a dialog box which asks "Dear User, am I allowed to spread?" If the user agrees, the virus appends itself to all.EXE files not already infected in the current directory.
The virus was sent to antivirus vendors rather than being distributed in the wild, to demonstrate that devices running Microsoft Windows CE can be infected by malicious code.
