The news this week that mobile phone users are facing the first virus that doesn't just attack smartphones, but most Java phones, means that mobile owners now have to take the threat of mobile viruses seriously. 

The new RedBrowser code is not the mass virus that some people have been predicting, but it's a worrying sign that virus writers are getting much smarter. And a similar virus for the Pocket PC operating system proves that mobiles are not alone. 

Could this be the year we see a big mobile virus? "This year would surprise me," said Nick Spencer, research analyst at Canalys.

"One of the problems has been that mobile viruses have been quite weak. You need someone to download files to get infected, and the propagation techniques need to advance before there are serious problems."

Spencer added that while instances of proof-of-concept malware for mobiles exist there is little code in the wild.

"It could be 2006 but probably in the next 12 months when we get a big virus, " said Greg Day, security analyst at McAfee.

"From our perspective, numbers of mobile malware doubled in the last half of 2005. It's still proof-of-concept code for mobiles but they're ironing out the kinks of what they need to do."

Day warned that the potential for monetary theft is so high with mobile phone payment systems that a major virus targeting the systems is only a matter of time.