“An Android malware is spreading across app stores, including Google Play, and has the capability of stealing sensitive files from corporate networks,” Michael Kan reports for IDG News Service. “DressCode, a family of Android malware, has been found circulating in at least 3,000 Trojanized apps, security firm Trend Micro said on Friday.”
“DressCode hides itself inside games, user interface themes and phone optimization boosters. It can also be difficult to detect because the malicious coding only makes up a small portion of the overall app,” Kan reports. “On Google Play, Trend Micro found more than 400 apps that are part of the DressCode family, it said. That’s 10 times more than what security researchers at Check Point noticed a month ago.”
“Trend Micro added that one of these apps on Google Play had been installed 100,000 to 500,000 times. Once installed, DressCode’s malicious coding will contact its command and control servers and receive orders from its developers,” Kan reports. “The malware is particularly dangerous because it can infiltrate whatever internet network the infected device connects to. Imagine a user bringing a phone to the office and connecting to the corporate network. The makers of DressCode could use the phone as a springboard to hack into the corporate network or download sensitive files, Trend Micro said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Android. “Open” in all the wrong ways.
Smart companies do not allow fragmandroid Typhoid Mary devices on their networks. They only allow real iPhones.
SEE ALSO:
Over 10 million Android phones reportedly infected with Chinese malware – July 5, 2016
Apple’s revolutionary iPhone is nine years old – and still no significant malware outbreaks – June 29, 2016
Android malware hits Aussie bank customers, iOS users unaffected – March 10, 2016
Android malware steals one-time passcodes, a crucial defense for online banking – January 14, 2016
New Android malware is so bad, you’d better off buying a new phone – November 6, 2015
Apple issues iPhone manifesto; blasts Android’s lack of updates, lack of privacy, rampant malware – August 10, 2015
New Android malware strains to top 2 million by end of 2015 – July 1, 2015
Symantec: 1 in 5 Android apps is malware – April 25, 2015
Kaspersky Lab Director: Over 98% of mobile malware targets Android because it’s much, much easier to exploit than iOS – January 15, 2015
Security experts: Malware spreading to millions on Android phones – November 21, 2014
There’s practically no iOS malware, thanks to Apple’s smart control over app distribution – June 13, 2014
F-Secure: Android accounted for 99% of new mobile malware in Q1 2014 – April 30, 2014
Google’s Sundar Pichai: Android not designed to be safe; if I wrote malware, I’d target Android, too – February 27, 2014
Cisco: Android the target of 99 percent of world’s mobile malware – January 17, 2014
U.S. DHS, FBI warn of malware threats to Android mobile devices – August 27, 2013
Android app malware rates skyrocket 40 percent in last quarter – August 7, 2013
First malware found in wild that exploits Android app signing flaw – July 25, 2013
Mobile Threats Report: Android accounts for 92% of all mobile malware – June 26, 2013
Latest self-replicating Android Trojan looks and acts just like Windows malware – June 7, 2013
99.9% of new mobile malware targets Android phones – May 30, 2013
Mobile malware exploding, but only for Android – May 14, 2013
Mobile malware: Android is a bad apple – April 15, 2013
F-Secure: Android accounted for 96% of all mobile malware in Q4 2012 – March 7, 2013
New malware attacks Android phones, Windows PCs to eavesdrop, steal data; iPhone, Mac users unaffected – February 4, 2013
Google ought to be strung up over this.
Android – continuing to spread joy throughout the land in explosive and malignant ways.
I just looked at the Google Play store and searched for Antivirus. Got 100 apps with a button to list more.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
So sad.
Mac store has 64 antivirus apps.
iOS store has too many to scroll through to count them all.
Maybe, just maybe, the number of apps available to paranoid users isn’t directly correlated to the fundamental security of a platform.
Android can be made secure — first step it is remove all Google services. iOS can be made insecure — simply allow apps too much access. It’s a never ending battle, Think.
That’s pretty freaking bad..
The Russians are coming, The Russians are coming, …
Couldn’t resist 🖖
It’s pretty bad when IT staff that focus on Windows clients and servers, are all in on Android and poo iPhone.
There is literally nothing you can say to them to convince them they are compromising their own networks. Competed denial. These same asshats won’t turn in their Galaxy 7 phones either.
It will take all sorts of rain to bring down their parade.
Wait until a couple of corporate fires due to Samsungs and watch the lawyers TELL the companies to get rid of Samsung phones.
I don’t even bother to connect to my work’s wifi anymore. I have plenty of data on my phone and the signal is good there.
If you work in a large building then network access may be a bigger issue.
😾 Great Going Google 😼
• On Google Play … more than 400 apps that are part of the DressCode family.
• One of these apps on Google Play had been installed 100,000 to 500,000 times.
• The makers of DressCode could use the phone as a springboard to hack into the corporate network or download sensitive files
• The DressCode malware can also be used to turn infected devices into a botnet. This allows the infected devices to carry out distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks or be used to send spam.
• Trend Micro has found DressCode infecting enterprise users in the U.S., France, Israel, Ukraine, and other countries.
• Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the malware.
🇬💩💩🇬🇱🇪 (0_o)
Here’s more about DressCode malware from Dan Goodin @Ars Technica:
More than 400 malicious apps infiltrate Google Play
“DressCode” apps turned phones into listening posts that could bypass firewalls.
In 2012, Google introduced a cloud-based security scanner called Bouncer that scours Play for malicious apps. Since then, thousands of malicious apps have been detected by researchers. This raises a question: if outside parties can find them, why can’t Google find them first?
IOW:
Worthless scanning for malware at Google Play by Google.
Worthless.
😾 Great Going G💩💩gle 😼
Italics end after ‘why can’t Google find them first?’ Sorry.
Caffeine meter on Empty.
Android is an menacing national security risk that must be banned. Now that corporations have been infiltrated will the perpetrators begin exploding the networks? To put it another way, when there is a food poisoning scare all the suspect product is pulled from the shelves. Android is the infected product, which has now spread its disease into sensitive networks.
The company I work at doesn’t allow ANY phones to connect to the computer. Android might be rampant with malware, but iPhones aren’t above being compromised either.