Can my phone pick up a virus?

[Jcmg62]

Earlier today an email landed in my inbox. I thought I vaguely recognised the sender and clicked on a link embedded in the mail (I know, I know....frigging schoolboy error on my part). Anyway, the link opened up a load of random, weird websites, so it was clearly not legitimate. I wasn't overly worried until I switched on my laptop and realised the email I'd received and opened had actually been flagged as spam and instantly moved to my junk mail folder on my desktop outlook. This is the first time that junk mail has made it onto my phone. So now its got me asking the question; are our phones safe from the sorts of viruses that plague our laptops and desktops? My understanding is that its extremely unlikely to pick up a virus through a downloaded app. But what about other incoming information streams. Is wp8 protected from traditional web and email based viruses?

 

[raccoon210]

Yes you will not get a virus that way. Not on your phone at least

 

[darkest.white]

Yes. You are absolutely fine and have zero need to worry. PCs and Windows Phones use totally different file types, you can think of them as talking totally different languages. Could it have directed you to a virus? Yes. Could it effect your phone in the slightest? Not a chance

 

[Jcmg62]

Phew (wipes sweat from brow and blows kisses at Bill Gates). Thanks gents

 

[nohra]

Similar thing happened to me last night with a link in a tweet that was from someone I know. It went through a series of strange website addresses until finally landing on a fake twitter login screen.

With all the discussions I've seen on WP security i'm sure nothing could have been installed on the phone, but it is still a very freaky experience. :angry:

 

[berty6294]

I mean you can't get a virus, but you can still be phished (guy above me, looks like you caught on before they got ya)

 

[mms-pc]

Similar thing happened to me last night with a link in a tweet that was from someone I know. It went through a series of strange website addresses until finally landing on a fake twitter login screen.

With all the discussions I've seen on WP security i'm sure nothing could have been installed on the phone, but it is still a very freaky experience. :angry:

That's a phishing website, you will need some secure way to browser the web:
Kaspersky Safe Browser | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

 

[Pete]

I'm pretty sure that a link from a tweet will open up a web address in the phone's default browser, so the Kaspersky browser probably won't help in situations like this.

Safe browsing habits remains the king of cool.

 

[ratsttam]

Could there be a virus that can infect your phone? Sure. But it's very unlikely, and even less chance it would be from a "random" sent email like that. Those are targeted at x86 based windows machines. WM, WP7/8, RT would be immune to those as they are a different kind of OS from your "desktop" windows.
Personally, I would be more worried about picking up a virus from the doorknob...

 

[Pete]

Could there be a virus that can infect your phone? Sure. But it's very unlikely, and even less chance it would be from a "random" sent email like that. Those are targeted at x86 based windows machines. WM, WP7/8, RT would be immune to those as they are a different kind of OS from your "desktop" windows.
Personally, I would be more worried about picking up a virus from the doorknob...

I think you're confusing viruses and phishing attacks.

A phishing attack involves sending a link to someone that ends up on a web page that cosmetically looks like another (Twitter in this case, but are often banks or other financial based websites). These websites will often ask the user to enter personally identifiable information for the purposes of identity theft. Ask the user to enter credit card details is often common.

Windows Phone users are open to this kind of attack, provided the email has made it through any server based spam detection. If at all possible, people should avoid clicking on links in emails, but should go directly to the relevant web page and log in through the main portal in order to gain access to whatever the email is referring to.

 

[nohra]

I'm pretty sure that a link from a tweet will open up a web address in the phone's default browser, so the Kaspersky browser probably won't help in situations like this.

Safe browsing habits remains the king of cool.

Agreed, once I saw all it went through to get to a fake site, I knew better than to play along!

 

[berty6294]

Another thing that can help, if you have your browser remember your username and or password and for some reason it doesn't automatically sign you in or fill in the username, chances are it's not the legitimate site.

 

[JerseySal]

If you left it on the subway in the East Village of NYC, and some random/sketchy naked person sits on it, it can possibly carry a virus.

 

[nohra]

If you left it on the subway in the East Village of NYC, and some random/sketchy naked person sits on it, it can possibly carry a virus.

I can imagine the look on the phone store staff seeing someone carrying a phone in, held at arms-length with rubber gloves, wanting to do an exchange! :evil: