Android hit by rogue app viruses Skip to main content

Android hit by rogue app viruses

Android robot, Getty Android is becoming a popular target for writers of mobile malware

Related Stories

More than 50 applications available via the official Android Marketplace have been found to contain a virus.
Analysis suggests that the booby-trapped apps may have been downloaded up to 200,000 times.
The malicious apps were copies of existing applications, such as games, that had been repackaged to include the virus code.
All the apps found to contain the malicious code have now been removed from the Android Marketplace.
Remove and recall The virus-laden apps were discovered by a Reddit user called Lompolo who realised that one program was listed under the name of a publisher he knew had not written it.
He found that the app, which let people play guitar on their handset, was the same as the original but for a name change and some virus code buried within it.
Lompolo said the rogue apps had been downloaded between 50,000 and 200,000 times since they were placed on the Marketplace.
Lompolo initially found 21 apps bearing the viral code but, according to an investigation by mobile security site Android Police, the final tally is believed to involve more than 50. The apps are also known to be available on unofficial Android stores too.
Once a booby-trapped application is installed and run, the virus lurking within, known as DroidDream, sends sensitive data, such as a phone's unique ID number, to a remote server.
It also checks to see if a phone has already been infected and, if not, uses known exploits to bypass security controls and give its creator access to the handset. This bestows the ability to install any code on a phone or steal any information from it.
The latest version of the Android operating system, known as Gingerbread, is not vulnerable to the exploits DroidDream uses.
Open access As well as removing the applications from the Android Marketplace, Google has also suspended the three accounts being used by the developer behind the apps.
It also has the option to use a security tool that can recall and uninstall rogue applications from phones. It is not thought to have yet done this as its investigation continues. Google has yet to issue a formal statement about the rogue applications while it completes the investigation.
Writing on the Trend Micro security blog, Rik Ferguson, pointed out that remote removal of the booby-trapped apps may not solve all the security problems they pose.
"...this remote kill switch will not remove any other code that may have been dropped onto the device as a result of the initial infection," he wrote.
He advised anyone who believed they had installed one of the malicious apps to find out whether they need to get a new handset or re-install the operating system on the one they have.
The open nature of the Android platform was a boon and a danger, he warned.
"This greater openness of the developer environment has been argued to foster an atmosphere of creativity," he wrote, "but as Facebook have already discovered it is also a very attractive criminal playground."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12633923

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...

Father of Kao Tao murders suspect requests chance to talk to his son

Migrant worker's father in Rakhine State says he wants to talk to his son. Suspect Win Zaw Htun, in red shirt, sits with suspect Zaw Lin, centre, during a police "re-enactment" of the murder of two British tourists on a beach on Koh Tao, Thailand October 3. Photo: AFP/Thai Police   The murder of two British tourists on a beach in Thailand has caught media attention from around the world. With the focus now on the two Myanmar migrant workers charged with murder, Mizzima talked by phone October 8 to U Tun Tun Hteik, the father of Win Zaw Htun, 21, one of the two suspects. The father lives in Kapi village, Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine state. Britons Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, were murdered on a beach on the Thai island of Kao Tao, 410 kilometres south of Bangkok on September 15. Controversy surrounds the efforts by the Thai authorities to solve the case, with the Thai govern...