Sexy Girls Puzzle: Android Trojan or eager ad-slinger? Security researchers are split on the seriousness of an Android "malware" campaign that some estimates suggest may have "infected millions" of smartphones via gaming apps from Google's Android Market. "Android.Counterclank" – a piece of code described by Symantec as a Trojan and by Lookout Mobile Security as part of "an …
The thing I’ve been caught out by twice now is innocuous little apps that only ask for internet access permission and behave themselves perfectly for a month, then suddenly you start getting push notifications. When you check the Market to see other user’s reports you find the app has disappeared (so no feedback possible). Meanwhile the only real clue is the “unimportant” permission for the app to start at boot – that’s the giveaway.
I do think that Market pages for withdrawn apps should stay (perhaps only accessible through “My Apps”/“Download”) with no download button, but still there to act as a discussion centre for the app in question. And not just for malicious apps.
"...Malware can also be used to steal personal information from a mobile device that could result in identity theft or financial fraud. Apperhand doesn’t appear to be malicious..."
So, this program is hidden in a repackaged app.
It takes details from your phone and sends it off to a third party for them to do something funky with.
How is this not a trojan again?
Reminds me a little of the business Phorm's CEO wsa involved in. Forget what it was called now, but they wrote a piece of software that got labelled malware.
He then tried to use semantics to try and explain why his bit of code that was sending data off, had snuck along with some other software and was generally quite undesirable was not in fact malware.
Exactly what this reminded me of in all honesty, but I can also see that the AV vendors have every reason to try and call it malware.
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