A NEW generation of computer viruses, that can infect individual mobile phones and could threaten to collapse wireless networks, has been unleashed.

More than 50 viruses targeted at mobiles have been detected in the first six months of this year. The figure has alarmed security companies because it is only a year since Cabir, the first mobile phone virus, was identified. Most of the bugs discovered so far are “proof of concept” viruses that carry a threat of only minor disruption.

However, at least one, Commwarrior, is malicious and virulent. It infects a handset through a Bluetooth connection. During the night it sends out text or picture messages to all the numbers on that phone’s address book. In the daytime it searches for other Bluetooth-activated phones to which it can spread. Bluetooth is the wireless system that allows short-range communication between devices such as wireless headsets or printers.

Commwarrior has been detected in five countries, including Ireland and Finland, but is not thought to have reached Britain. People whose handsets have been taken over can be hit with huge phone bills for messages they are unaware that they have sent.

The viruses are created by rival groups of “script kiddies” — young mischief-makers who are good with computers — who devise ways of infecting networks and boast about their achievements in internet chatrooms and newsgroups; but their ability to develop threats could be exploited by cybercriminals who could develop more malicious software to steal data, commit fraud or hold businesses — including mobile networks — to ransom. The same pattern was followed in the development of PC viruses from a pastime for computer geeks to an extortion weapon for organised-crime syndicates.

As mobile phones become more sophisticated, they will become more vulnerable. “The situation is very similar to the early days of PCs,” Sal Viveros, the head of security with McAfee, the computer protection company, said. “Most of the viruses we are seeing are just trying to spread. Some try to delete data, but that will change. They are being written by what we call Grey Hats, people who are just trying to prove a point, to show that the technology can be corrupted.”

F-Secure, a Finnish anti- virus company, has been commissioned by people involved in billing disputes with their networks after their phones were infected by Commwarrior and ran up huge bills. Anton von Troyer, of F-Secure, said: “The networks have told these people they have to pay their bills; but they are fighting the operators, saying their phones were infected through the network. A much bigger level of threat is coming, however, when mobiles are going to be widely used for internet connectivity. Very few people have firewalls on their mobiles.”

A virus known as Skulls has appeared in several variations. The most recent infection, Skulls.L, pretended to be a pirate copy of a popular anti- virus software program. It targets smartphones — those with computer, camera and phone applications — and has the ability to disable the handset.

Mobile phone operators say that the threat from viruses is limited at present. A Vodafone spokesman said: “The problem is still relatively small . . . but we are not complacent. There is also the question of educating phone users not to download material from unknown sources.”

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