Your friend accuses you of sending an offending SMS that you didn?t, your phone is sluggish at performing even the lightest task, and your monthly bill is much more than what it should be. If it?s a ?yes? to all three, chances are your mobile phone has been hacked.

Virus and hacking are horrors creeping in from the world of computers and the Internet to the ubiquitous cellphone. ?It?s time we started worrying about the mobile phone as well,? says Arif Ahmed of South Asian Management Technologies. Worried over the rise in mobile virus and hack attacks, the city-based IT security company has drawn up dos and don?ts for a safer cellular experience (see box).

?It?s an effort to raise awareness about mobile phone security and inform buyers about the flaws in the handsets they are buying,? explains Ahmed.

A hacker can take control of a mobile phone through ?remote? or ?local? access. Remote hacking can be done through SMS or Bluetooth/Infrared, while local access requires physical contact with the phone. The hacker can steal or destroy data, deny services to the user and reduce efficiency of the phone.

?We receive around 15 cases of virus infection a month,? says Amit Ghosh, channel partner of a handset major in town. ?The sets become jammed, you can?t make or receive calls and sometimes an up-arrow key appears on the screen.?

But mobile content providers don?t seem too concerned yet. ?It?s still a small issue here and largely restricted to the smartphones,? says Arun Gupta, chief operating officer of Mauj Telecom. ?Applications based on Symbian platforms, like themes and games, can be virus carriers but a few simple prevention steps should suffice.?

Low virus risk or not, it?s time for greater buyer empowerment. ?There is very little information available to mobile users. Most are unaware that their firmware (the basic set of instructions stored in the phone for it to function) can and should be regularly updated,? Ahmed explains.

Agrees Gupta: ?Few people bother about how Bluetooth and Infrared function, so that element of risk remains.?