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Fake Antivirus Scams Spread To Android
SharkLaser writes "Fake antivirus scams have plagued Windows and Mac OS X during the last couple of years. Now it seems like such scams have spread to Android. Fake antivirus scams on Android work the same as they do on PC's — a user with an Android phone downloads an application or visits a website that says that the user's device is infected with malware. It will then show a fake scan of the system and return hard-coded 'positives' and gives the option the option to buy antivirus software that will 'remove' the malware on the affected system. Android, which is based on Linux, has been plagued with malware earlier too. According to McAfee, almost all new mobile malware now targets Android. Android app stores, including the official one from Google, has also been hosting hundreds of trojan applications that send premium rate SMSes on behalf of unsuspecting users."
I always believed that the day antivirus software becomes a universally accepted requirement the way it is on Windows is the day the platform has failed and missed the whole point of mobile operating systems. The point is to get away from the big mess of the desktop--the constant maintenance, driver updates, antivirus updates, defragmenters, and other utilities. Mobile operating systems are an opportunity to use a computer just to get things done, not to maintain the computer. That's what was so refreshing about the experience of the using the iPad and why it was such a surprise success to everyone including me.
I hate a fucking walled garden as much as the next guy, but this type of shit is why users will stay with one. Not that a walled garden can't be hijacked, hacked, or otherwise messed with, but by and large it is a cleaner place to be. It is a win-win, both or users who can't, won't, or are too dumb to be bothered with learning a little software/hardware safety, and with corporations who thrive on control and stifling competition.
Silence is a state of mime.
I had hoped being owned by Intel would class up their act. Apparently not. Doubtless they sell a cure for this "threat".
Help stamp out iliturcy.
The weekly/monthly stories that try to implant into peoples minds.
Android = Linux = Malware
Users are stupid whatever OS/Hardware they use, they will click on shit like this just because it pops up and they've never bothered to educate themselves about what it really means.
"Number of new fake malware" is not that same as "number of malware infections". With the right tool you can generate an infinite number of malware variants. The statistic from McAfee includes every single individual file that contains some malware - this is like saying that, for an old school virus that infects .exe files on Windows, that every single infection counts as a different "unique malware instance". And if one of these is uploaded to an app store - even an app store that nobody uses, even for a "unique malware instance" that nobody ever installs - then it gets counted by McAfee. The equivalent in the iPhone world would be counting all malware in every random Cydia repository on the web. Obviously there is a big difference between a random repository on the web, and something being distributed by the official repository.
What would actually be useful is to know the number of malware instances that have made it on to app stores that people actually use (eg the official one), how many people installed them, and how long it was before the app was removed. But obviously this number would be much lower, and so generate far fewer page hits.
McAfee should know, it's one of them too.
Their free trial virus scanner does the same thing, it's just slightly more subtle about it. I appreciate the fact that it helps clean up cookies, and I hate ad-network cookies as much as the next guy, but labeling each ad-network cookie as a separate infection is only designed to oversell what it does, and alarm non-technical users into ponying up more money for their over-priced software.
And eventually, their software behaves just like most malware anyway. It nags you every year for you to pay to resubscribe. It continually runs in the background slowing down your computer in everything it tries to do. And it ends up stealing a good portion of screen real estate away from a non-sophisticated user, who usually doesn't know how to remove it from his/her internet browser.
Not to mention that on a mobile device, it will also suck the battery dry.
Nah, not really... but I couldn't think of a better title.
Put something nice in the hands of the ignorant, and they will muck them up. It's what they always do. What's more, you let the greedy carriers and manufacturers decide when and how you can get updates and fixes, you'll find they won't be coming to your rescue.
I hate to say it since I'm an Android user myself, but these things have the advantages of a PC in that you can get any software you want onto these things. But they have an incredible weakness in that users can't casually "reload" the machine to clean them up.
I think it's time Android makers came up with a way for users to wipe and reload their devices as an alternative to processor and battery sucking anti-malware. We know they won't though... that'd open the doors to an even more fiendish group of people -- the firmware hackers!! If they leave things unlocked too much, they will lose a few bucks from people removing the bloatware from their phones and enabling features the carriers were careful to disable.
The reason iOS devices don't need anti-malware solutions is because all of the programs that run on that platform are from a secure and curated Apple App Store.
You know, we can make all computer systems secure by forcing people to only get software that has been screened by the government. And we can eliminate all sources of terrorist communication by forcing all telephone calls, email, letters, etc, to go through government "approval" censors. And we can eliminate fraud in the banking system by only allowing transactions that are pre-approved by the government. And we can improve car safety by only allowing people to buy cars supplied by the government.
And I wouldn't want to live in that world.
Yeah, but where would the fake webpage buy its traffic from? Apple controls in-app ads, and Google censors its search ads all the time. A fake antivirus website that nobody visits is not a problem at all.
So, wait... If my "scam" website uses referrer headers to target iOS instead of Android browsers, then all of a sudden Android is the secure one right?
No, because even if you target iOS what will happen? Exactly nothing, because your virus-laden app is not in the app store.
Android has a lot more avenues of attack, including real applications - and many users who have purposefully allowed external downloads (even the Amazon market tells you to disable that block).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Walled Gardens are the TSA Security Theater of the mobile space (coming soon to a PC near you!)
Not hardly.
When you talk about the TSA, there are literally hundreds of examples of the TSA not catching "banned items". WIth the iOS App Store, there have been what, one or two completely benign "breaches" in three years?
Hardly a fair comparison.
And, when compared with the track record of Android, even in the supposed "official" Android App Store, you would be bat-shit crazy to seriously suggest that Apple's curating of the App Store is "theater".
You know, we can make all computer systems secure by forcing people to only get software that has been screened by the government.
You mean like an App TSA?
Yeah THAT would sure be a great idea.
No, the reason why Apple's security works is not JUST the app screening. It's defense in depth - app screening, sandboxing (prevention of hidden SMS), disallowing externally loaded apps without jailbreaking.
Also the real reason the screening does anything at all is not because Apple is so great at screening for security issues (they are not nor can anyone be) but because you have to go through the process of making an identity Apple trusts enough to allow app submission with. That's way too much effort for way to little payout since Apple could and would quickly pull any app found to have a real virus of some kind, and again even if you can get a malicious app in the store what could it really do?
The Apple (and Microsoft BTW) model works best for end users really because users that do not know any better are protected, while technical users who can handle the responsibility or removing layers of security can jailbreak and side load any apps they like.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The implication of this article is that the same mess is going to start happening with phones and tablets,
No.
The implication is this IS happening on Android phones and tablets. not just any "phones and tablets". WP7 and IOS both have enough controls in place that average users will not be affected much at all by viruses, for all sorts of reasons.
Android has made it too easy for average non-technical users to download apps from anywhere, for those apps to fundamentally change the system in ways the user may not comprehend. And so they are suffering the fate of those who would bring the sins of the past forward into smaller devices.
Technical users or those with technical friends can still easily open up iOS and WP7 but at least it's a more conscious and directed choice.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You can have a "walled garden" for users (some Android companies have their Appstores), yet still allow people to leave on their own risk.
If anyone can step over it, it's not a wall.
You seem to imply that any Android app store is a walled garden. An App Store is not what makes a wall, the wall is not only what lets applications into a collection of apps but the reach they have beyond once they get in.
Curated collections alone are not enough, you need to also have many layers of system security to bring any kind of meaning to the "wall" of the garden.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It seems every week there is another "Oh Nos! Android is infested with malware!" article extolling the virtues of Apple and claiming all Android phones MUST install some A/V app or else your hair is going to fall out, your dog will get pregnant and your lawn will turn brown. Every one of these articles can be traced back to one of the major A/V vendors (who just happen to have a convenient Android A/V app for sale) or Apple. It is all FUD and BULLSH*T. Are there malware out there for Android? Yes. Is it widespread in the US? No. I've worked with Android phones for years, work with several administrators in corporate environments who service hundreds of Android phones, know dozens of friends with Android phones. I have NEVER encountered a single bit of malware. Not once. The few bits of malware that have gotten into the system in the US were quickly taken care of by Google. Tell me, have any of you EVER seen this "widespread malware" out in the field?
I appreciate the fact that it helps clean up cookies, and I hate ad-network cookies as much as the next guy
That's a job better performed by tools like Adblock Plus, a comprehensive /etc/hosts (or equiv.) file, various cookie management add-ons (or your browser's blocklist), session cookies only, and other measures that target the actual issue. That is much more effective and makes a great deal more sense than using a virus scanner for something that is not a virus.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
Wait, so are you saying that a Windows derivative is more secure then a Linux derivative?
No. The key is that WP7 is a green-field effort (or near to it). That's why it's actually pretty secure and well designed unlike so many other Microsoft products...
Linux is inherently pretty secure. The underlying system in Android is pretty secure, but then they built layers of services atop that that are too easily accessed by other applications (like SMS).
You can build an insecure system on top of anything... the most solid bedrock can be a fine pedestal for a house of cards.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley