A computer virus that can infect mobiles has surfaced for the first time.

The virus, called Cabir, infects the Symbian operating system that is used in several makes of phone, including Nokias, and spreads through the new Bluetooth wireless technology.

It writes the word Caribe on the screen and is then activated every time that the phone is turned on. It is able to scan for phones that are also using Bluetooth and is able to send a copy of itself to anybody else's handset within 7-10 metres.

The firm, which found it, the Russian security software developer Kaspersky Labs, said up until now it has had no harmful effect. But it can significantly lower the life of the handset battery owing to constant scanning by Bluetooth.

Anti-virus experts fear that other virus-writers will now use Cabir to introduce rogue software, which can do more damage.

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