[ubuntu-uk] Android hit by rogue app viruses

[Vince Marsters]

On Thu, 2011-03-03 at 20:24 +0000, Barry Titterton wrote:
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12633923
> 
> They sound more like trojans than viruses to my untrained ear.
> I expect the same would apply to any linux system if you installed a bad
> software package; the malicious code would then be free to do what it
> liked. Though it does say towards the end of the article that Google has
> closed the vulnerabilities that the code was exploiting.
> 
> The article also quoted Trend Micro having a swipe at Open Source saying
> that it was "a very attractive criminal playground".
> 
> Would the experts like to comment on my understanding of this, or on
> security in general?

They forgot (or I am going blind and missed it) that it was less than 5
minutes after Google were alerted till the apps were removed from the
store. Not bad going really

As you said, they were boobytrapped with a trojan which was capable of
sending loads of personal data and also downloading other malicious
content.

Vince