Android for Dummies: Android malware: anatomy of attacks on mobile devices

Monday, December 16, 2013

Android malware: anatomy of attacks on mobile devices - Telix.pl

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Since the discovery of the first malware for Android in August 2010, so far Sophos has identified more than 300 families of malware. Ecosystem malware is constantly evolving and becoming more and more intelligent, so it can effectively overcome security systems.

sophisticated mechanism to avoid detection

Exemplifying in as an innovative way to avoid malicious software checks before security systems is Ginmaster – Trojan penetrating to the core of Android. Was detected in November 2011 in China, took on the form of seemingly legitimate applications that you install on your device. In 2013, developers Ginmastera Trojan developed into a highly difficult to detect by the user. At the same time, the researchers observed a steady increase in cases detected Ginmaster that in the period between February and April of 2013 years was 4700 samples.

Android botnet attacker

use of a network of computers without the knowledge of the user to send spam and attack on a massive scale was the domain of desktop computers and laptops. Cybercriminals have started to use the botnet because of the phenomenon referred to as widely in the case of mobile devices with the Android operating system. Botnet detected by Sophos and marked as Andr / GGSmart-A seems to be so far restricted to the territory of China. It can take control of smartphones, for example, by sending the user without the knowledge of their Premium SMS. Botnet for Android poses a potentially greater threat to the mobile device than other such malware.

first ransomware on Android detected in June 2013

ransomware detected for the first time nearly 25 years ago, this type of attack is to encrypt your important personal documents and request payment for access. In June 2013 at Sophos researcher, Yu Rowland discovered the first ever ransomware attack on the Android operating system. Designated as a hybrid of Android Defender antivirus and ransomware – application demanded $ 99 for the restoration of access to the user’s device. After running the Android Defender looked like a professional antivirus, moreover tried to access administrative privileges device. If the user’s consent to it, he blocked the access to the different applications, made it impossible to make calls or change settings.

Securing Android from Google

Google has taken steps to better protect Android platform in the past few months. First Android 4.3 eliminates the automatic downloading of applications which functioned in previous versions. Secondly Google tightened contract with developers in particular in the context of potentially unwanted application (PUA – Potentially Unwanted Applications), which are not explicitly harmful, however, operate in a user-invasively.