Post by Captain Zedo on Jun 13, 2011 17:18:41 GMT -5
I found this on G Data's security site. They have some good computer security news. It's about Google's awful Android portable OS. Please don't trust Google. They hate you and everyone else.
"The first proof of the official Android Market being interesting for cybercriminals was reported in March 2011, called DroidDream, a family of malware which uses a pair of exploits to gain root access on vulnerable Android devices. A large number of Android applications was reported to be infected and all were pulled from the Android Market after it was reported to Google. All of the applications were versions of legitimate programs that were Trojan-ised and rebuilt by the malware authors, loaded with malicious code. DroidDream sends a collection of information like IMEI, IMSI, OS version, etc. to the attacker and then attempts to download additional software and payloads.
"So, Google took a couple of actions to remove, not prevent. They pushed out an “Android Market Security Tool March 2011”, specifically for DroidDream. Unfortunately, a Trojan-ised version of it soon popped up in various markets. They remotely uninstalled the malicious apps from some infected devices and suspended the developers in question as well as removing the malicious apps from the Android Market. All solid reactive steps.
"Fast-forward several weeks, and we see a new DroidDream version hit the Android Market, again in a variety of re-packaged legitimate apps. Thousands of Android users downloaded infected applications from the official Android Market, again. The malware was found in about two dozen applications that Google has since removed from its mobile app store. It appears Google is not actively looking for malware inside the applications in the Android Market.
"A reactive policy from Google, combined with the incredible growth in Android use and attractive Google Wallet Service will make you *smart* from your phone (def., to cause a sharp, usually superficial, stinging pain). "
blog.gdatasoftware.com/blog/article/mobile-payments-droiddream-and-a-reactive-policy-add-up-to-major-headaches.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GDataSecurityBlog+%28G+Data-SecurityBlog%29
paragraphs 3 - 6
"The first proof of the official Android Market being interesting for cybercriminals was reported in March 2011, called DroidDream, a family of malware which uses a pair of exploits to gain root access on vulnerable Android devices. A large number of Android applications was reported to be infected and all were pulled from the Android Market after it was reported to Google. All of the applications were versions of legitimate programs that were Trojan-ised and rebuilt by the malware authors, loaded with malicious code. DroidDream sends a collection of information like IMEI, IMSI, OS version, etc. to the attacker and then attempts to download additional software and payloads.
"So, Google took a couple of actions to remove, not prevent. They pushed out an “Android Market Security Tool March 2011”, specifically for DroidDream. Unfortunately, a Trojan-ised version of it soon popped up in various markets. They remotely uninstalled the malicious apps from some infected devices and suspended the developers in question as well as removing the malicious apps from the Android Market. All solid reactive steps.
"Fast-forward several weeks, and we see a new DroidDream version hit the Android Market, again in a variety of re-packaged legitimate apps. Thousands of Android users downloaded infected applications from the official Android Market, again. The malware was found in about two dozen applications that Google has since removed from its mobile app store. It appears Google is not actively looking for malware inside the applications in the Android Market.
"A reactive policy from Google, combined with the incredible growth in Android use and attractive Google Wallet Service will make you *smart* from your phone (def., to cause a sharp, usually superficial, stinging pain). "
blog.gdatasoftware.com/blog/article/mobile-payments-droiddream-and-a-reactive-policy-add-up-to-major-headaches.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GDataSecurityBlog+%28G+Data-SecurityBlog%29
paragraphs 3 - 6