Android users, take heed. A new malware toolkit is reportedly affecting devices running on Google’s mobile platform and could be an instrument for stealing confidential information related to online banking transactions.
According to Sophos, SpyEye, which is an infamous and widespread malware toolkit used in creating botnets, have somehow spawned an Android version. In a blog post, the computer security firm said that “When the user of a PC infected by the Windows version of SpyEye visits a targeted banking website, and when the site is using mobile transaction authorization numbers, the SpyEye Trojan may inject HTML content which will instruct the user todownload and install the Android program to be used for transaction authorization.” In simple speak, when you are using a SpyEye-infected PC, you also run the risk of being tricked into getting the Android version on your mobile device.
Now how does it work? We won’t go down to the technical details but apparently it intercepts received text messages which in turn may lead to the unintentional spilling of information about online banking transactions to attackers. To conceal itself, the malware, which also goes by the unalluring and even shady name Andr/Spitmo-A, displays itself as a harmless albeit important part of Android software getting the pseudonym “System”.
Also, when you search for it, you won’t see it in the menu grid; you’ll have to run “Manage Applications” to see it sitting pretty in the innards of your Android device. The good news is it hasn’t affected a huge number of users. However, with the increasing number of Android devices, we’re pretty sure attackers will spawn more malware like this to latch on the little green alien’s back. You could look at it a price of being popular in the world of software. Just ask Microsoft.
Article source: http://www.techie.com.ph/news/new-malware-toolkit-version-affecting-android-users
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