Posts tagged Trojan
New Android Trojan Has the Ability to Record Phone Conversations
Aug 2nd
New malware has invaded the Android ecosystem and this one is creepier than its predecessors. According to IT management firm CA Technologies, the new Android Trojan, titled Golddream.A, has the ability to record phone conversations and storing them to the phones SD card. The malware has a configuration that may allow it to upload those recordings to a server controlled by the hacker.
Google, Android and the security industry have been battling Android malware constantly in 2011, with DroidDream kicking off the party late February. According to Lookout Mobile Security, mobile malware has exploded in the six months since DroidDream came onto the scene, with users 2 ½ times more likely to encounter mobile malware now than they were then. This new Android Trojan is not quite like the main malware that has been seen in the environment this year between DroidDream, GGtracker and DroiddreamLight but the principles of malware and security remain the same whether you are on your computer or a mobile device.
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According to CA, the new Android Trojan will download a payload to a smartphone that is triggered when a call is made. The app will record the conversation in “amr” format and save it to the SD card. Once the malware is downloaded it will drop a configuration file that has information on how to contact a remote server and the parameters or the app.
While an app recording and logging conversations is indeed creepy, CA also states that the app “has got many other malicious activities that we have seen in many of the earlier malware incidents targeted for Android platform.” This is where the connection to a remote server is more of a problem than phone conversation recording specifically. When malware invades a phone and gets kernel access, it essentially controls the device. CA did not specifically mention if this application has rootkit access but if it has any of the capabilities of DroidDream, than it does or has the ability to do so.
This is where a remote server kicks in. Once malware in on a device and communication with a command-and-control server, that malware can morph and grow as the server sends it more tasks and capabilities. What started as malware that had strange functionality permissions can turn into a device that is no longer controlled by its owner, in the same way that a PC malware can make a computer join a botnet.
The best advice for avoiding mobile malware is to check the permissions of every application you download and run it through a security application (that will scan it in transit from market to device) such as Norton, Lookout, Bitdefender or NetQin among others.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
Geinimi: The Trojan that Eats Android Phones
Dec 30th
For some reason, people who get their hands on the latest and greatest technology automatically assume that it’s invulnerable to the threats that assailed its predecessors. They rest easily, knowing that there’s no way that their personal data could be filched, or their hardware could be destroyed, or a virus could start the zombie apocalypse using their tablet. Luckily, every so often, a highly publicized and devastating bit of malware like Geinimi crops up — reminding people that they still need to be smart about how they use their modern day devices.
Everyone from Mashable to Venture Beat has been reporting on Geinimi. What do we know so far?
First, this is a hefty bit of malware that works like your typical PC trojan. Only it targets your smartphone.
Second, it doesn’t like Android phones. At all.
Third, it can send all the data from your phone — including from your contacts, device data, installed apps, and, far more frighteningly, your location — to a remote computer.
Fourth, it makes it so your device can actually be remotely controlled by someone else.
And fifth, it’s not nearly so big of a threat as you may think. While the malware is brutal and sophisticated, you have to install it through an infected application. To find one of these infected apps, you would have to visit a Chinese, third-party application store. Since doing so would require both some major phone settings modifications and, more than likely, a translator, U.S. Android users should be in the clear.
That being said, Geinimi does give us an idea of how vulnerable smartphones can be to malware. Far more importantly, though, it shows just how much incredibly personal data can be transmitted to those who contract this sort of smartphone virus.
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Geinimi: The Trojan that Eats Android Phones
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Android SMS Trojan Uses SEO To Spread – InformationWeek
Sep 10th
 Forbes (blog) |
Android SMS Trojan Uses SEO To Spread
InformationWeek Disguised as an adult media player, the malware sends $6 text messages until a user's mobile phone account runs out of credit. By Mathew J. Schwartz New … Text-based trojan hitting Russian Android users Android SMS Trojan delivered via SEO techniques Updated Android Trojan Pushed in SEO Attacks |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Android SMS Trojan delivered via SEO techniques – Help Net Security
Sep 9th
 Help Net Security |
Android SMS Trojan delivered via SEO techniques
Help Net Security FakePlayer.b) is being distributed via clever search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, a clear sign that cyber-criminals are making every effort to … Updated Android Trojan Pushed in SEO Attacks Want porn on your Android? Be careful. |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Updated Android Trojan Pushed in SEO Attacks – Threatpost (blog)
Sep 8th
Forbes (blog) |
Updated Android Trojan Pushed in SEO Attacks
Threatpost (blog) The use of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to promote the malware suggests that organized cyber criminals have taken an interest in the program … Malicious Android Trojan Targets Smartphone Porn Searches |
View full post on SEO – Google News
