Telecom operators look to head off mobile viruses.

"Research firm IDC believes the market for mobile security software will grow around 70% annually, from $70 million in 2003 to nearly $1 billion in 2008, as more people start to use e-mail and the Internet on their phones...Three out of four smart phones run on the Symbian operating system, making it the virus-writers' target of choice. Indeed, 81 out of the 83 mobile viruses so far recorded have targeted Symbian, according to F-Secure... Most of the mobile viruses and other malicious cell phone software use Bluetooth short-distance radio signals to spread. That requires phones to be near one another. In comparison, computer viruses mostly spread through e-mail or over the Internet. 'Not one of these is able to spread by itself, always the user of the phone has to accept installing of the virus,' said Mikko Hypponen, head of research at F-Secure."