"Bill Shocker" Malware Controls 620,000 Android Phones In China

Orome1 writes "A new discovered malware is potentially one of the most costly viruses yet discovered. Uncovered by NQ Mobile, the 'Bill Shocker' (a.expense.Extension.a) virus has already impacted 620,000 users in China and poses a threat to unprotected Android devices worldwide. Bill Shocker downloads in the background, without arousing the mobile device owner's suspicion. The infection can then take remote control of the device, including the contact list, Internet connections and dialing and texting functions. Once the malware has turned the phone into a "zombie," the infection uses the device to send text message to the profit of advertisers. In many cases, the threat will overrun the user's bundling quota, which subjects the user to additional charges."

Comments

All worried until...

[Kagato]

Upon further reading the infection vector is infected pirated Android apps sold/distributed in black market Android marketplaces. Cry me a river folks.

And the infection vector?

[bickerdyke]

Let me guess... you have to manually install an apk from an untrusted source?

Re:Nope

[poetmatt]

the also unsurprising factor is that this is happening in China, where the same responses for how to prevent this have been sent every week:

download things from official trusted sources only.