alexalex Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 The Mother Of All Android Malware Has Arrived: Stolen Apps Released To The Market That Root Your Phone, Steal Your Data, And open backdoor. Openness ? the very characteristic of Android that makes us love it ? is a double-edged sword. Redditor lompolo has stumbled upon a perfect example of that fact; he?s noticed that a publisher has taken "? 21 popular free apps from the market, injected root exploits into them and republished." The really scary part? "50k-200k downloads combined in 4 days." The offending apps from publisher Myournet: Falling Down Super Guitar Solo Super History Eraser Photo Editor Super Ringtone Maker Super Sex Positions Hot Sexy Videos Chess ????_Falldown Hilton Sex Sound Screaming Sexy Japanese Girls Falling Ball Dodge Scientific Calculator Dice Roller ???? Advanced Currency Converter App Uninstaller ????_PewPew Funny Paint Spider Man ??? http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/03/01/the-mother-of-all-android-malware-has-arrived-stolen-apps-released-to-the-market-that-root-your-phone-steal-your-data-and-open-backdoor/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbandonedTrolley Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 If a game app tells me it needs access to dial and make calls etc then chances are I won't be installing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Maybe openness isn't as good as it sounds :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Veteran Posted March 2, 2011 Veteran Share Posted March 2, 2011 Maybe openness isn't as good as it sounds :whistle: Or maybe consumers just need to be smarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmatic Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 well at least Google has the ability to remove the apps for you... the whole deal just sounds slightly scary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoTrunks Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Or maybe consumers just need to be smarter. I don't have an Android, so I don't know the answer to this question. But does it warn you when an app requires elevated privileges? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Lyle Global Moderator Posted March 2, 2011 Global Moderator Share Posted March 2, 2011 Or maybe consumers just need to be smarter. You can't expect every consumer to read and follow instructions, it simply doesn't work that way. Google needs to verify that apps don't contain anything harmful before allowing applications and games showing up on the market place. This is one place where Apple is actually better. I said ONE, so don't flame me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Veteran Posted March 2, 2011 Veteran Share Posted March 2, 2011 You can't expect every consumer to read and follow instructions, it simply doesn't work that way. Google needs to verify that apps don't contain anything harmful before allowing applications and games showing up on the market place. This is one place where Apple is actually better. I said ONE, so don't flame me. I know, I know. No flaming. I just kind of like having ONE place where we can be treated like adults rather than kids who have to be supervised lest we hurt ourselves. If someone isn't going to do their research, read, pay attention to what's being installed and where... they're kind of asking for it, aren't they? That's part of why I prefer Android to iOS... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Maybe openness isn't as good as it sounds :whistle: They are ROOT exploits so not as bad as you or others may think. People who root are smart enough to know wtf they are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollow.Droid Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Maybe openness isn't as good as it sounds :whistle: That's a pretty invalid argument, this has nothing to do with openness but rather a fault on Googles part. None of the mentioned apps could be considered a result of Googles open effort. Also I'd like to believe this is a non-biased comment but your sig makes me doubt that :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbandonedTrolley Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I don't have an Android, so I don't know the answer to this question. But does it warn you when an app requires elevated privileges? Yup :) Gives detail of each privilege it requires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Yup :) Gives detail of each privilege it requires. And this feature is turned on by default Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzwolf Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Google should really look at applications more carefully before accepting them. There are always going to be people trying to exploit so I am not surpised this was caught. I wouldn't doubt if there is a handful on the Apple platform too... just unnoticed so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soldiers33 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 dont a superuser pop up appear to get root access? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etempest Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 dont a superuser pop up appear to get root access? I suspect that more the standard root app that designed to prompt you... I'm betting a malware app just does it and doesn't want you to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoTrunks Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Yup :) Gives detail of each privilege it requires. And this feature is turned on by default Good to know. So it looks like there's nothing to see here. It's too bad though, because some of those are legitimately useful apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollow.Droid Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I suspect that more the standard root app that designed to prompt you... I'm betting a malware app just does it and doesn't want you to know. Are you saying it gives itself root permissions without any sort of prompt? If so that's not possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted March 2, 2011 Veteran Share Posted March 2, 2011 Or maybe consumers just need to be smarter. I think this is the case being that before you install an app it tells you right on it what the app requires. and as someone stated if the app wants access to things that are strange just do not install it. Also do not install anything that is from a company that sound stupid like "puzzle game face" which was one i saw the other day lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexalex Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 And this feature is turned on by default Or maybe turned off by the malware ? Good to know. So it looks like there's nothing to see here. It's too bad though, because some of those are legitimately useful apps. None of these is usful apps. These are bogus copies of legitimate apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollow.Droid Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Or maybe turned off by the malware ? The list of privileges is shown in the market for all applications, before installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoTrunks Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 None of these is usful apps. These are bogus copies of legitimate apps. I understand that. Though, to the end user, they would appear as legitimately useful apps. Some of them, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 dont a superuser pop up appear to get root access? Yup, it does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singh400 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I suspect that more the standard root app that designed to prompt you... I'm betting a malware app just does it and doesn't want you to know. Any app trying to get root access has to go through SU. And that will always give you a popup. Another game I recently installed asked for root access. I promptly denied, uninstalled and reported the app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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