Android Phone Tips
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| Android Phone Tips |
I prefer Google’s Android over Apple’s iOS for smartphones. On Saturday, Google’s Rich Cannings, the Android Security Lead, announced that:
1. We removed the malicious applications from Android Market, suspended the associated developer accounts, and contacted law enforcement about the attack.
2. We are remotely removing the malicious applications from affected devices. This remote application removal feature is one of many security controls the Android team can use to help protect users from malicious applications.
3. We are pushing an Android Market security update to all affected devices that undoes the exploits to prevent the attacker(s) from accessing any more information from affected devices.
If your device has been affected, you will receive an email from android-market-support@google.com over the next 72 hours. You will also receive a notification on your device that “Android Market Security Tool March 2011″ has been installed. At least Google will be telling users what’s going on, so that’s something anyway.
This malware only worked on versions of Android that were 2.2.2 or lower. So, how about making almost every Android user in the world happy—not to mention developers-and get the phone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)–to update all their Android devices to 2.3, the latest major version? There’s a host of Android A/V programs on their way.
Only devices running an Android version earlier than version 2.2.2 were susceptible to the rogue apps, which took advantage of known vulnerabilities, the Internet giant reported late last night in the Google Mobile blog. Fifty-eight malicious apps were identified and removed Tuesday but not before they were downloaded to about 260,000 devices.
Google said it would use a kill switch to remotely remove the apps from users' devices and push an Android security update to affected users to repair the damage done by the apps. Google Android users need to be wary of rogue apps that try to steal personal data from their handset, says Internet security firm Bullguard. Philip Dall recommends that Android users consider two basic security measures to stay safe.
There are many mobile security products available including offerings from BullGuard, AVG and Trend Micro. Gartner recently revealed Google Android is now the second largest mobile phone operating system, with 67.2 million handsets sold last year.
By. Android Phone Tips
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