Android.Pjapps, listed by Symantec, joins the trend by hiding behind a legitimate application. But this does not concern the Android Market.
Android is fast growth phase, building up a large user base on smartphones, and soon on shelves. This potential is also relevant to malware writers who think they can find a new territory for their criminal acts.
And fashion is the installation of fraudulent applications on devices, hidden in legitimate applications, the couple is then proposed botched portals for downloading applications, alternatives to the Android Market and the software that controls some are submitted.
This approach is mostly spread in Asia. The Symantec cites the case of the Trojan Android.Pjapps, hidden in the application Steamy Windows. The latter is quite legitimate but it was repackagée with the malicious code and redistributed on portals.
Upon installation, it opens additional rights in relation to the normal application, giving access to personal data of users of smartphones, including identifiers (IMEI, DeviceID, line number …). This allows him to place a backdoor with all the ingredients for the future of the terminal of a zombie botnet, with the ability to install applications remotely, send SMS or to block their reception with discretion.
Google Android Market on its eve:
Obviously, the same attackers attempt to place more or less malicious applications on the Android Market, or at least that exceed their original functions, but Google is keeping watch.
According AndroidCentral , about twenty applications, all from the same publisher Myournet were eradicated from the Android Market, but also mobile devices on which they were installed via the infamous Kill-Switch function.
They used a loophole to gain admin rights on the terminal, opening the door to potentially numerous fraudulent actions. It should therefore not forget that the world of smartphones (not just Android) is less different from the PC and the same safety rules and common sense applied when installing new applications .
