A phone infected with the Cabir virus uses Bluetooth to continuously search within a 32-foot range for other devices to target. It attempts to send infected SIS files to the first Bluetooth-enabled device it can find.

The worm arrives at the target device, which must be running the Symbian OS and have Bluetooth turned on in “discoverable” mode. The targeted device will prompt its user to receive a message from the infected device.

If the user chooses to accept the message, her phone will issue a security warning. Disregarding the warning, she opts to proceed.

The user then will be prompted to install the virus, which also goes by the alias “caribe.” The user chooses yes.

The Cabir infection takes hold. The cycle repeats when the worm in the original phone and newly infected device start looking for new devices to infect via Bluetooth.