Wave of Trojans breaks over Android
Fraudsters have cranked up production of malware targeting Android devices with with a rash of Trojans, many of which apply tricks long used against Windows PCs. F-Secure reports that a rogue developer has modified a harmless app that displays pictures of bikini-clad babes into a tool that secretly establishes a rudimentary …
This topic is closed for new posts.
Android is the best
Since on the other forum I got down voted for saying iOS is more secure, more polished, but Android is cheaper, and more open, I'm changing my stance.
Android is more secure, more open, more polished and cheaper than iOS. Everybody happy now? OK, now regarding these daily Android malware news
Malware
I'd rather contend with malware in the wild than have it built in, OK?
hehe
lol, you'll never win mate, lets just say that any platform could potentially be targeted by malware no matter what. Statistically more problems will appear on devices that have a larger market share simple because there are more of them
Now apparently that isnt a vaild argument when MS is taken in to account, apparently they just make crap software and everyone else is better.
In short IT is a lot like statistics, nothing is certain and everyone is wrong except the person making the statment.
Maybe
I'm not sure that iOS is more secure, but the iTunes App Store is certainly more secure than the Android Market Place. Also it is much easier to install apps from alternative sources on Android which is good for freedom but potentially bad for keeping malware out.
In other news
"Android is more secure, more open, more polished and cheaper than iOS. Everybody happy now? OK, now regarding these daily Android malware news"
I also hear that living in a town or city can be dangerous - you can get run over by a bus. The county isn't too safe either what with all those mad cows. I guess we should all retreat into a fort where our routine can be strictly regimented, what we may say or do is controlled and there is little chance of escape into the wild world with all its dangers.
@DrXym
I hear some towns are more secure than others. I hear some forts are really bad for defence.
They're trojans though
So OS security doesn't really come into it. That's the whole point of the trojan horse — the security is sufficiently onerous that you just get someone trusted to let you in.
" I guess we should all retreat into a fort where our routine can be strictly regimented..."
Isn't that the "Way of the Apple Cult"?
Lord Steven controlling your every need & desire?
Don't worry little ones...Lord Steven will protect you from all the bad people. Just listen & follow what he says...and your will be safe.
Wow...
Various studies and reports from Anti-Virus firms suggest we all REALLY REALLY REALLY need Anti-Virus on our phones.
Didn't see that one coming!
Scaremongering init
The moral of the story is, don't use an app when the web does it better and safer.
Moral?
Stop using smartphones and go back to the dark ages when men were men and a phone was a phone, with maybe a calculator and a game of snake BUT NOTHING ELSE!
just wait...
until google flicks their kill switches yet once again and remotely removes the installed software. The fandroids will no doubt say that it is a good thing they have no control over their open. Or wait wasn't that the only advantage of Android?
There's a difference in approach though
Apple assume everything to be malevolent until they've discovered it to be otherwise. Google assume everything to be benign until they've discovered it to be otherwise. And that's without getting into the tests each applies to determine what they think shouldn't be made available to customers.
Wow, that took a while
Needless to say, this has been long overdue
It's not in any way surprising at all and I believe we'll see many a clueless Android owners being duped into installing these Trojan Apps.
Perhaps smart phones should be restricted to smart users?
So , what's new?
If they are using the standard 'click here for tits' ruse then where's the problem?
Unless, that is, people are mug enough to somehow assume that what happens over in MSoft territory can't happen elsewhere.
Anti-virus isn't what's needed it's a slap-app that spots such links and turns the Android device in to a short-sharp-shock machine.
let's not emulate certain past monopolies
seems that smartphones have the potential to become a big security mess.
I happen to think that vendors (Apple, Google, etc...) who run an app marketplace but don't police it well will quickly gain a security reputation akin to that which Microsoft has enjoyed for years.
There is a significant subset of people who value openness above many other things. We're techies and we love to tinker. This is a vocal subgroup here, yes.
But the unwashed masses will sadly be unimpressed if that openness comes with premium rate calls shenanigans and credit card hacks from "vetted" apps acquired on those marketplaces.
"Smart" phones
The 'phones are smart, but the users may not be. I worked in a big shed once where they used to sell just computers and their peripherals. Customers used to bring their PCs in to be fixed by the "technicians". Many of the problems customers were experiencing were due to viruses and malware etc. although often the hardware was just ill-suited to their needs; salesmen eh? We used to wonder why once upon a time one used to have to have a dog licence if one owned a dog. In theory, one is supposed to have a driving licence to drive a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, anyone can buy a computer - smart or otherwise - and without common sense it could well become just another node in an ever-expanding botnet, and their personal details scattered about the 'net for all those crims out there to harvest. Are we doing naive people a great disservice by letting them do this or should we screw the whole 'net down so tightly that it's boring?
quick
lets move to iOS, oh wait that was hacked today too.. eh try window... err .. no hacked too..
How about those bricks with an antenna that only had 7 segment displays... those should still be hacker free right ?
Title
Since Android has a tick that allows installation of non market apps, perhaps they do need to tighten their vetting procedures up a lot, become more of a walled garden - there's still an access gate in the phone settings for tinkerers who like to experiment.
There's been a great deal made over the fact that iOS make more money than Android apps, perhaps because people inherently trust the system more, are more likely to trust them with a credit card number.
Google have to get a handle on this before it bites them in the ass and Apple release a cheap iPhone for the masses.
"app that displays pictures of bikini-clad babes"
How is it people still get caught by this? They need an app to see a bit of skin? Have they never heard of a web browser?
This topic is closed for new posts.
