Siemens phones can be "shot down" via SMS
German manufacturer recommends firmware update
Cupertino/ Munich (pte033/14.03.2003/14:22) Recent complaints in mailing lists by Siemens mobile phone owners have pointed to a serious problem with certain Siemens devices - it appears they may stall or crash when receiving certain types of SMS content.
Security Focus has published information on the problem at http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/7004/info . According to the report, the mobile phones at risk are: A50, C55, M35, M45, M50, MT50, S35i and S55. Devices in the SL42, SL42i and S45 lines may also be partially susceptible. This nearly comprises the German company's entire GSM product palette.
According to technical experts, the models in question crash when they receive SMS messages containing characters in a certain order. These phones can only be restarted once the rechargeable battery has been removed and reinserted - so-called "denial-of-service" attacks. Other devices stall for about two minutes while consuming large amounts of electricity, so that five or eight such messages may empty the battery. Some devices permit the interruption of this sleep phase by pressing a key.
Siemens press speaker Michael Stenberg told pressetext.europe that Siemens had been aware of such technical faults in early versions of its 35 and 45 series phones. He said customers could find firmware updates for these phones at http://www.my-siemens.com . Sternberg however added that "it is new to us that such problems have also occurred in the 50 series."
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