This post is contributed by Kaspersky Lab E-Store SEA
In the past hackers had tried many ways to infect Android smartphones with malware for their own personal gain, including the SMS Trojan(Android) and a recently discovered Android malware called Geinimi in China.
Malware attacks carried out against mobile devices are rare, but things are changing fast. The number of mobile malware are not only increasing, it is very targeted towards a mobile operating system and are becoming more complex.
Kaspersky Lab recently discovered apps in the Android Market that contains malware. The applications look legitimate, but are actually copies of (legitimate)applications injected with code that infects Android devices with Trojans.
“This discovery is important because up until now most of the Android malware has been found outside of the Android Market, which requires a number of special steps to be taken in order to infect the phones. In this case, users are even able to install from the Web with the new Android Market format.”
Kaspersky Lab experts analysed the Trojan inside the illegitimate apps in the Android Market and highlighted that it has been designed to be easily included in popular applications, uploaded onto the Market with misleading names and that it also had the ability to install other applications on the devices.
Android smartphone users are advised to always check all the permission requests from an application during the installation on the phone.
