Malware targeting mobile phones is being studied with increasing interest by the research
community. While such attention has previously focused on viruses and worms, many of
which use near-field communications in order to propagate, none have investigated whether
more complex malware such as botnets can effectively operate in this environment. In this
paper, we investigate the challenges of constructing and maintaining mobile phone-based
botnets communicating nearly exclusively via Bluetooth. Through extensive large-scale …

Malware targeting mobile phones is being studied with increasing interest by the research
community. While such attention has previously focused on viruses and worms, many of
which use near-field communications in order to propagate, none have investigated whether
more complex malware such as botnets can effectively operate in this environment. In this
paper, we investigate the challenges of constructing and maintaining mobile phone-based
botnets communicating nearly exclusively via Bluetooth. Through extensive large-scale …