Second SMS Android Trojan targets smut-seeking Russians
A second SMS-sending Trojan targeting smartphones running on the Android operating system has appeared, being distributed via Russian-language sites offering pornographic video clips. Android users visiting these sites are offered the Trojan while users of other mobile platforms receive the desired smut clip, reports Russian …
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antivirus on android
i've seen an antivirus on android - do they work? has it ever caught a virus/trojan/malware/rogue app from the marketplace?
i don't want android to become another untrustable OS like windows.
"don't want android to become another untrustable OS like windows."
Don't install untrusted stuff then. - it's the same for any operating system
I run Linux exclusively but it doesn't mean I trust anything just because it's there. If I did a user account could get compromised and that might lead to worst consequences
Hard really...
It's very hard to know what you can trust and what you cannot when you are installing from an un-patrolled app store from your phone. Which is really the crux of the whole Apple walled garden vs. the Android open-everything debate.
And Chemist, if you want to insist on using Linux exclusively, I still have a working Motorola A780 Linux smartphone for sale... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_A780. Unless you have one, it is unlikely you are running Linux _exclusively_.
"if you want to insist on using Linux exclusively,"
I DO use Linux exclusively.
Re : Hard really...
App-store ! - this was a site offering dubious video clips - would you download a video player app ?
Maybe you would
Linux exclusively
>Unless you have one [A780], it is unlikely you are running Linux _exclusively_.
And what do you reckon Android is?
Ha Noi has the answer?
The civil government of Ha Noi, VietNam, has a problem with illegal advertisers painting advertisements, with telephone numbers, on buildings walls and on the sidewalks, etc.
Asking them to stop proved fruitless.
Then they got smart. All numbers found illegally on public areas are simply disconnected, rendering the adverts worthless. A total success in less than 9 months.
Why can't numbers used for fraudulent activities also be either blocked or disconnected, this should be particularly easy given that telephone switches (exchanges) are essentially computers that operate switches?
An alternative would be require all subscribers to these fee collecting lines be required to accept payment 60 days after a call was made and deposit a sizable, cash, security bond.
Think it through
"All numbers found illegally on public areas are simply disconnected, rendering the adverts worthless. A total success in less than 9 months."
Yeah, so if you want to put your competitors out of business, all you do is put up some fake ads with their number on them. That's why the remedy is naive. It's called being framed and I thought it would be obvious.
#Ha Noi
>All numbers found illegally on public areas are simply disconnected, rendering the adverts worthless.
Cool - so all I need do to get a rival's phone number disconnected is pay a couple of kids with a spraycan to splash it around on a few bus shelters then?
Bread & Butter
"Why can't numbers used for fraudulent activities also be either blocked or disconnected, this should be particularly easy given that telephone switches (exchanges) are essentially computers that operate switches?"
Because that's where my bread and butter comes from. I have kids to feed, think of the children!
Love BT/Vodafone/Orange/T-Mobile/O2
Wait for it... wait for it...
I'll bet we'll see one or two iTards gloating here soon :P
Gloating
I'll gloat, from my Nexus One, safely secured behind some common sense.
I'll get my shiny new coat, since browsing porn didn't spend all my money.
not at all ...
It's about choice. You can either choose to have your content fiercely locked down and monitored as in the Apple app store, or have an 'anything goes' approach. Users then can decide what is better suited to their taste.
I like the general anarchy on the net, since I am naive enough to believe that I know how to avoid major issues on my PC, and can clean up if (when!) something goes wrong. But I know nothing about the OS of my iPad, so I'd rather that stayed uninfected. So I'll take the app censorship route here - if that's ok with you.
PAYG
95% of Russian mobile phone users are on pay as you go - contracts do not offer significant advantages as they do in western world - and top up terminal are quite literally everywhere.
moreover, of that 95% 99% have no more than $50 on account, so no significunt damage can be done by this trojan.
people (kids) loose far more money on short message ringtone scams (pay for one ring tone, turns out you signed up for a year's subscription)
Maybe they should default lock android to the walled garden
The ability to install what ever your want being locked behind some questions to determine if you have common sense.
The exploit preys on Androiders' dismal sex life
...since several articles last month reported (wrongly) that Android users get less "action." (Actually, they've had fewer partners.)
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