Millions Caught Up in Android Botnet

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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With this download, you get a surprise at no extra cost. Pre-packaged with your game, comes the freebie Trojan Android Counterclank, which we are sure will provide you hours of entertainment. :eek: Beware the Trojan which is included into 13 known games from three different publishers from the official Google Android Market.

According to Symantec, Counterclank has the highest distribution of any Android malware identified so far this year.
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I pretty much only use my Droid 2 as a phone these days. Waiting for a decent Windows phone to come to Verizon.
 
Freedom has always carried certain risks to ones safety.
Walled gardens are usually safer.

WinMo, and iOS are simply safer at present, while Android offers you the greatest range of choices.
You have to choose what you want and take steps accordingly.
 
More info on the "apperhand" package that's packaged with the main apps that Symantec is calling out.
I personally stay clear of apps that what full access to all the info that some of these apps do. I use my phone mainly as a phone now anyways. But do people who install all of these shit apps even bother reading the permissions they are granting said apps?
 
My SD card is 80% mp3's. If I had a larger card that percentage would close in on 90% without thought. My phone is a workplace mp3 player/Pandora streamer and phone. It comes in handy at other times (needed to find a battery equivelant to the LR44 button battery while standing in the grocery store yesterday for example), but it's really low on the installed apps. Easier to live that way.
 
This is exactly why i use Apple for business (iphone, ipad, OSX) and then tinker on android (currently hacking a Nook color, waiting on 7" Kal-El tablets).
 
Spire3660 said:
This is exactly why i use Apple for business (iphone, ipad, OSX) and then tinker on android (currently hacking a Nook color, waiting on 7" Kal-El tablets).
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This is why I don't drive a car, too many accidents these days. This is also why I don't fly in airplanes, too many hijackers on flights.
 
Domllama said:
This is why I don't drive a car, too many accidents these days. This is also why I don't fly in airplanes, too many hijackers on flights.
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Wrong analogy. Plenty of people will ride in a car but would never ride on a motorcycle.
 
That walled garden of apple's isn't looking so bad now, is it?
 
jimbean21 said:
That walled garden of apple's isn't looking so bad now, is it?
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Of course it is

Even if apple offered people free gold, people will still side with android because they get the option of choosing three different kinds of shit.
 
khanable said:
Of course it is

Even if apple offered people free gold, people will still side with android because they get the option of choosing three different kinds of shit.
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I'll be sitting over here in the malware free zone then...
 
jimbean21 said:
That walled garden of apple's isn't looking so bad now, is it?
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So should people who use Windows machines go to Macs because they're too stupid to figure out Notavirus.exe is a little shady? should Mac be the preferred platform for people who can't figure out to not stay off of shady websites and "free" porn sites, because the malware isn't designed for infecting Macs?

If you need a walled garden to keep yourself from downloading shady apps onto your phone, you don't deserve a phone. If you need a computer that isn't a mainstream target of malware to avoid getting infected with malware, you don't deserve a computer.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
So should people who use Windows machines go to Macs because they're too stupid to figure out Notavirus.exe is a little shady? should Mac be the preferred platform for people who can't figure out to not stay off of shady websites and "free" porn sites, because the malware isn't designed for infecting Macs?

If you need a walled garden to keep yourself from downloading shady apps onto your phone, you don't deserve a phone. If you need a computer that isn't a mainstream target of malware to avoid getting infected with malware, you don't deserve a computer.
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Your analogy doesn't work. You're comparing visiting rogue websites and shady random download locations to using a centralized app store.

I would like to think the centralized app store has a higher degree of security than downloading apps from freeappsandpr0n.net.
 
jimbean21 said:
I'll be sitting over here in the malware free zone then...
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Android isn't any different then Windows or even Mac OS X. Your security and malware is completely dependent on your intelligence. The freedom you get with Android does come with a price, but one you could easily avoid with ease.
Any computer would know enough to avoid apps like those. In my experience, 90% of infections come from porn.

- Pretty women lingerie puzzle
- Sexy Girls Photo Game
- Sexy Girls Puzzle
- Sexy Women Puzzle

If you think by having Apple have a draconian control over the apps you can and can't have is better off then having freedom, then have fun with your dictator and raging insanity.
 
Ashbringer said:
If you think by having Apple have a draconian control over the apps you can and can't have is better off then having freedom, then have fun with your dictator and raging insanity.
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Obviously it is better, otherwise this thread wouldn't have been called "Millions Caught Up In Android Botnet".
 
Wait, I'm confused... this malware is on the official Google marketplace, which means it's inside Google's own walled garden.

This isn't an open platform vs. closed platform issue, it's a marketplace vetting issue.
 
The apps infected with this virus is something I would never download. A small percentage of android users will come into cantact with this virus base on the app names. Most likely horny teens or bored husbands. I'm not worried at all. I dont download apps out of boredom and most of the ones I do download are somewhat popular. It's sort of like a computer, if you look for crap on the internet, you'll get crap on your computer. Keep it safe on the phone and you'll be fine.
 
Unknown-One said:
Wait, I'm confused... this malware is on the official Google marketplace, which means it's inside Google's own walled garden.

This isn't an open platform vs. closed platform issue, it's a marketplace vetting issue.
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Stop making sense, there are Apple users about and we need to make them feel bad about an issue that doesn't even apply to them.
 
Boozer said:
The apps infected with this virus is something I would never download. A small percentage of android users will come into cantact with this virus base on the app names. Most likely horny teens or bored husbands.
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The article says that millions (plural) of Android phones have this malware installed. I'd hardly call that a trivial number.
 
i wouldnt trust anything symantec said however that being the case from the list of apps that contain this malware i would never have been infected. i use my nexus as a smart phone not some micro porn device or gameboy.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
I pretty much only use my Droid 2 as a phone these days. Waiting for a decent Windows phone to come to Verizon.
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Agreed. I like my android but would love to give windows phone a try again.

In a couple weeks Microsoft is coming to visit my vb.net class and let us try out windows phone 7. I think they are even going to give some away. Maybe i will get lucky. :p
 
Sound like a bunch of games that are shite to begin with, who would have thought some light porn games would have malware/spyware included:rolleyes:
 
I'm glad all the sheep use iOS devices, they're probably safer and don't have to worry as much about shit like this happening. Anyone who uses android should be careful what applications they download from the store. What's that line from spiderman, 'with great power comes great responsibility'. Hopefully incidents like this will help educate non-computer savvy masses who choose to use android.
 
Unknown-One said:
Wait, I'm confused... this malware is on the official Google marketplace, which means it's inside Google's own walled garden.

This isn't an open platform vs. closed platform issue, it's a marketplace vetting issue.
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This. I do blame Google for not policing the apps on there own store. They really have sucked at it.
 
FndTheRver said:
I'm glad all the sheep use iOS devices, they're probably safer and don't have to worry as much about shit like this happening. Anyone who uses android should be careful what applications they download from the store. What's that line from spiderman, 'with great power comes great responsibility'. Hopefully incidents like this will help educate non-computer savvy masses who choose to use android.
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Actually, from the sounds of it, millions of sheep just contracted a trojan using their Android devices because they were not "smart" enough to avoid it.

While the iOS people continue to use their devices, without issue.

"Stupid is as stupid does" - Some movie
 
Unknown-One said:
Wait, I'm confused... this malware is on the official Google marketplace, which means it's inside Google's own walled garden.

This isn't an open platform vs. closed platform issue, it's a marketplace vetting issue.
Click to expand...

jkerr2 said:
This. I do blame Google for not policing the apps on there own store. They really have sucked at it.
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Google doesn't have walled garden, just a bunch of cleaner guys who go out when some dog pees on the walkway.

App Store and WP7 Marketplace reviews each and every submission, what the apps do. This means review process is slow and cost to the developer is $99/year.

Android Market on other side is not reviewed and malicious apps are removed after they are reported. The whole process of getting app on market is pretty much this - sign up, pay the fee, upload your apk file together with the app/new revision info and it's available (sometimes it takes few hours to go through all the caching and search to pick it up). Cost to the developer is a one-time $25 fee.

You simply can't compare two totally separate systems, and once again, Google doesn't have their own walled garden.
 
khanable said:
Actually, from the sounds of it, millions of sheep just contracted a trojan using their Android devices because they were not "smart" enough to avoid it.

While the iOS people continue to use their devices, without issue.

"Stupid is as stupid does" - Some movie
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I wouldn't mind an iPhone if the screen was big like my HTC Evo.
 
khanable said:
4", to me, is the perfect screen size. I loved the screen size of my Galaxy S.



Millions of Android users contract a trojan -- which as others in this thread have pointed out, is representative of their intelligence.

Which people are retarded again?
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My wife has an iPhone 4S. While it's a nice phone, I find it hard to look at stuff on the screen versus my Evo. They give the iphone 5 a bigger screen, I will definitely get one.
 
khanable said:
4", to me, is the perfect screen size. I loved the screen size of my Galaxy S.



Millions of Android users contract a trojan -- which as others in this thread have pointed out, is representative of their intelligence.

Which people are retarded again?
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Those retards need the walled garden. Those are the same kind of people that have virus infested PCs. Then again there are plenty of people not dumb enough to download crap like NAKED WOMEN SOLITAIRE,
 
Valshistixol said:
Those retards need the walled garden. Those are the same kind of people that have virus infested PCs. Then again there are plenty of people not dumb enough to download crap like NAKED WOMEN SOLITAIRE,
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So what you're saying is a large portion of Android users need to use a superior platform, such as iOS?

I agree.
 
BrooksyX said:
Agreed. I like my android but would love to give windows phone a try again.

In a couple weeks Microsoft is coming to visit my vb.net class and let us try out windows phone 7. I think they are even going to give some away. Maybe i will get lucky. :p
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I think Verizon is taking a hard stance on not adopting WP7 and putting them on their shelves. I'd just get an unlocked phone since ... You know ... Us being [H] and willing to spend hundreds of dollars on video cards and such...
 
When you download a game off of Steam, Origin, or D2D do you worry about the product containing a trojan or virus? (DRM aside)

When I download an app off of the official Android Market, free or paid, I should not have to worry about whether it is malware or not. If it is free I would assume it was adware of course, but I would not expect it to contain a virus or trojan. Putting this off on the users of unrooted phones that get their apps exclusively from the official Android Market is BS. Google needs a better vetting process at their store.
As long as we have the ability to root and side load, Google fixing policing the Market Place to weed out the malware would be a good think imho.
 
Ashbringer said:
- Pretty women lingerie puzzle
- Sexy Girls Photo Game
- Sexy Girls Puzzle
- Sexy Women Puzzle

If you think by having Apple have a draconian control over the apps you can and can't have is better off then having freedom, then have fun with your dictator and raging insanity.
Click to expand...

If you want have casual downloads, use protection. No protection is necessary if you use your brain and only do these that are low risk, or simply abstain.
 
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