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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.
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.
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?
the iOS App Store and KNOW all that stuff has already been done for me
Malicious app penetrates iTunes store to test security Miller's malware was on the Apple app store for over 2 months, so clearly the Apple store is vulnerable to the same sort of shenanigans as the Android market.
Apple has never had to exercise its "Kill Switch" option for an App already in the Wild
From the BBC article: "Apple declined to comment. It also removed the app and barred the developer from its store."