Malicious Apps Can Disable Android Os Anti-Virus Software program

Android developers have one other challenge on their hands. Privateer Labs has reported that a specific component in Android OS can be exploited by malware to subvert the anti-virus software program rendering anti-virus scans on your Android device ineffective. The malware can even corrupt the anti-virus software and use it as a malicious app. Reiley Hassell, the founder of the security firm Privateer Labs, declined to identify the Android OS component that is vulnerable, considering that he is taking it up with Google.

Even though Android mobile applications have had a stupendous growth in range and depth, it has also attracted its fair share of threats. Android overtook Symbian as the most malware-targeted mobile OS in the 2nd quarter, McAfee has reported. Riley indicated the recent security vulnerability is "undoubtedly an Android predicament". The software from the Android development industry is not checked beforehand by the marketplace and the users end up with malicious apps masquerading as genuine ones.

"App phishing" is one more strategy of cyber criminals exactly where the users are tricked into downloading and installing a genuine-looking app but that really consists of a Trojan, which alerts the developer when the user activates the app. In case of a banking app, the developer can hijack the session by posing a fake authentication screen stealing the login details, resulting in loss of private and economic data. The Trojanized malware Zitmo also identified as ZeuS acts as a legitimate banking activation application, accepts incoming SMS messages, and forwards them to a remote Internet server. The onetime pass codes banks send to users by way of SMSes for two-factor authentication purposes can be stolen by Zitmo-like apps.

Riley opined that this is a "difficult problem to solve" and further elaborated that this desires to be solved by the Android development community as a whole. Figuring out who is to police the sanctity of Android apps is a challenge per se. Chris Wysopal of Veracode, an application security provider, has referred to as for scanning of Android mobile applications for malware ahead of they seem on the market place. A signature-based scanning for malware can be enforced. Google this year has already revoked malicious apps twice from the marketplace, as soon as in March when it removed more than 50 malicious apps and then once more in June it removed a 2 dozen. This high attrition can slow down the growth of Android mobile applications.

Unlike the closed development ecosystem of Apple OS, Google has followed an open architecture model, exactly where anyone can develop an Android application and put it in the marketplace. Local as nicely as offshore Android development has taken off in a huge way resulting in multitude of apps that are half-baked and incomplete. Some Android users download apps from unauthorized on-line shops presenting a threat to the open source Android development architecture.

An Android mobile applications user can mitigate the risk of being targeted by malware by:

• Downloading apps only from trusted sources and from developers that are recognized by name and are rated
• Checking permissions that the app requests and matching it against its stated purpose

Being alert for any unusual telephone behavior like installation of unknown applications, sending of SMSes to unknown recipients, or automatic placement of telephone calls.