The linkup between NetQin, a mobile security solutions specialist, and Info2cell.com, a mobile service application provider, has been made to offer over-the-air security applications for Saudi mobile phone users.

The partnership between NetQin and Info2cell.com has already paid dividends, as NetQin has detected Transmitter.C, a malware that can randomly send text messages to around 500 mobile numbers on the mobile phone's contact list, and redirecting the infected phones to an unsecured web portal.

Upon execution, the malware attempts to automatically spread by texting hundreds of messages linking to a website where a copy of the malware (sexySpace.sisx) is stored.

Both firms have agreed to collaborate in delivering mobile security technology such an Arabic version of NetQin's Mobile Antivirus and Mobile Communication Master.

Bashar Al Dahabra, founder and CEO of Info2cell.com, told the TradeArabia newswire, that, as soon as the virus was detected, NetQin immediately executed a two-step process that involved informing its subscribers of the danger of the virus and explaining to them the process of deleting the malicious programme from their mobile.

The detection of the Transmitter.C malware is a strong proof of the growing risk of mobile phone subscribers being exposed to security threats, he said.