Zombies not only appear in movies. They might also "bite" your cell phone due to a nasty finger tap.

In the first week of September, about 1 million cell phones in China were found to have been affected by a new virus, one that spreads quickly by random and mass sending of text messages, according to State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).

A cell phone user in Henan province told CCTV that a telecom carrier had recently charged him short messaging service (SMS) fees although, he said, he had not sent a single message.

"The payment list showed that I had sent messages to my friends at mid-night and even some to other phone numbers which I didn't know," he said. "How could I send messages to them at such a late time?"

Another user in Beijing had the same problem. She said she had received late-night messages from her friends in which they recommended games to her, CCTV reported.

Cell phone professionals found that a virus binding with a security software program was the cause of the random message sending.

The virus affects cell phones as users download and install the software. An affected phone will copy and send the information of the subscriber identity module (SIM) card to a hacker-controlled server. Then the hacker can make the cell phone send messages with any content to any phone numbers.

The virus is very aggressive and the links in the messages ensure its spread. Once a user gets the message and clicks the links, his or her phone will be infected and will attack other phones, CCTV said.