Google Pulls 21 Malware Apps From Android Store

Mashable:

Google has just pulled 21 popular free apps from the Android Market. According to the company, the apps are malware aimed at getting root access to the user's device, gathering a wide range of available data, and downloading more code to it without the user's knowledge.

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Comments

[qwr]

10:31 PM on 03/04/2011

This falls squarely on the shoulders of Google. If there will be multiple Android marketplaces, can't Google be bothered to do a modicum of cleanup? Let the wild, dangerous Market be opened by users. Google's market should be clean. What is forgotten in this whole affair is that not only were these apps infected, but they were pirated version of other programs. Google is allowing pirated rip-offs in their market-- These were free apps, but remember, Google takes 32% of each paid app, more than Apple takes. For what? Google can't even be bothered to sweep the store. The problem, of course, is that Google makes no money from Android. If they ever take enough money from advertising on Android, the experience will be so intrusive as to drive users away. The Android--Windows comparison is misleading. MS relies on Windows for revenue.

[xsanetimes]

11:17 PM on 03/04/2011

You want google to clean out all marketplaces? Even ones that dont belong to them?

[qwr]

11:23 PM on 03/04/2011

No. Read it again.

[JaxReader]

12:28 PM on 03/04/2011

Well what it comes down to is having an open platform instead of a closed regulated one. I understand its a personal preference, but I would definitely pick the freedom of having an open platform.

Iphone is great for polished apps and OS in which you don't have much to worry about. Android is great for the level of its creativity and being a highly personal and customizable system.

[Thomas River]

04:09 PM on 03/03/2011

One has to wonder how many others are out there that Google has not caught.

And what is Google going to do to negate the problem?

[jkkFL]

09:59 AM on 03/03/2011

Face it- 99% of the blame is the in hand that holds it!

[gazmac]

08:33 AM on 03/03/2011

Hope the android fanbois are enjoying the openess - open to criminals that is.

[BruntLIVE]

08:00 AM on 03/03/2011

Android is not ready, xoom will be full of malware

[AngusC]

12:30 AM on 03/03/2011

This kind of stuff is exactly the reason why I am going to transition over to Apple products after years of fighting it and deriding Apple Products.

[Les Kern]

07:59 PM on 03/02/2011

I download#d one of thos# apps, and now my phon# won't typ# th# l#tt#r n#xt to th# W on th# k#ypad. I'm g#tting an iPhon#.

[Neechie]

07:19 PM on 03/02/2011

Exactly why I bought the iPhone. Don't really need to debate. Each one has their fans and it could be debated forever.
But I really don't have the time or patience to deal with antivirus on my phone. And I don't like buying products that mimic other products and pretend to be better than them. I at least try to give my money to the ones that had the good idea to begin with.

[futurejd]

01:14 AM on 03/03/2011

I have a droid and I love it. I also have an ipod, everyone knows itunes and apple is the antichrist. You just have to have common sense when you are downloading in the google app store. Some apps appear sketchy and other's are solid, there is no need to be downloading porn and then act surprised when you get a virus, just like on a computer. Duh, Winning!

[Carlo Pena]

04:02 AM on 03/03/2011

Those apps were modified versions of already established and popular apps. Meaning someone downloaded a chess game and instead got their credit card to pay for someone's new 54" HDTV instead.

[Neechie]

12:01 PM on 03/03/2011

OK, but you don't just get viruses from porn on the comp & apps.
Like I said, Love-Hate relationship with Apple, but at least I can download the few apps I want and not worry about anything. I can't understand the people with 50 apps and playing on the phone all day my eyes would be sore. I prefer playing real games on a computer or set up on my TV. So I guess I just don't understand the obsession.

[O K Ali]

05:40 PM on 03/02/2011

If the first app they downloaded was something along the lines of Lookout mobile, they wouldn't have had that problem.

[jkkFL]

09:50 AM on 03/03/2011

Bingo!!!

[Perdendosi]

04:19 PM on 03/02/2011

This is the balance you have to strike -- Apple is a crazy Big Brother; Google's so open their own operating system can destroy their users.

[xsanetimes]

04:24 PM on 03/02/2011

How bout using that thing that god provided you with (maybe), between your ears? That could be a viable third option.

[Onutz]

04:51 PM on 03/02/2011

I got my mom an iPhone when she was 80. That thing between her head could barely comprehend the concept of a homepage. Not every consumer is a whippersnapper. I'm glad Apple makes products for people with parents.

[hypnotoad72]

05:24 PM on 03/02/2011

Not to mention that iphones can be jailbroken by going to a web page allowing it. (Now think of websites that host malware that won't ask for a user's permission... do a web search for "iphone sms hacked 20 seconds" to find out something else frightening... and this link, which also sets the stage for future iMalware issues: http://www.mactrast.com/iphone-virus-discovered-be-vigilant-and-seek-advice/ In short, NO platform is secure. The Apple App store offers a perceived sense of security, but that's all. Indeed, I felt more secure by jailbreaking it and then installing a firewall app... amazing what that thing would block...)

[Onutz]

05:47 PM on 03/02/2011

I don't know of a single Apple person who has experienced a virus. I"m not saying none ever have, I'm just saying I don't know any personally.

[JKraz]

09:10 PM on 03/02/2011

really? iOS 4.2 can be jailbroken by visiting a website?
Can you provide a link?
It looks like you have to have physical access to jailbreak 4.2, and even then, you need to tether it to reboot.
Sure enough, people are complaining that they should be allowed to jailbreak what they paid for.
Tell me, which one is better? If it can be jailbroken, not through a website, but with a cable then it's claimed to be a sign of bad security.
But if it can't be jailbroken, then it's a sign of Apple being a control freak Big Brother.
Which way is it?

[MaxPowerXP]

03:56 PM on 03/02/2011

anyone downloading apps like "Hilton Sex Sound" and "Screaming Sexy Japanese Girls" deserves what they get, frankly.

[MaxPowerXP]

03:58 PM on 03/02/2011

Though the idea that "几何战机_PewPew" would contain malware is an outrage.

[xsanetimes]

04:08 PM on 03/02/2011

hehe, exactly. You are exactly right, anyone who downloaded these apps deserve what they get.

[Dabo415]

05:36 PM on 03/02/2011

I realize you going for humor here but if you think about it, this attidude is what's counted on by the people creating this malware.

[MaxPowerXP]

10:32 PM on 03/02/2011

All humor aside, I have no sympathy for anyone dumb enough to want their phone honking out orgasm sounds.

[jasonsabio]

03:27 PM on 03/02/2011

Attn Android owners, there's an extremely simple solution to malware concerns >> download one of the many FREE anti-virus apps!

I prefer Lookout on my Droid Incredible. AVG makes a nice app too, and makes a free PC anti-virus software that I use. Both scan every app you download before installing to weed out malware. I have never had a virus or malware on either platform and never paid a dime to protect myself.

[jasonsabio]

03:30 PM on 03/02/2011

ps... Lookout can locate a missing device and a do remote wipe just like MobileMe but at a fraction of the cost. $30 vs. $100 a year.

[Jean Carlos Gonzalez]

04:04 PM on 03/02/2011

Apple introduced Find my iPhone last year that does exactly that, and its free with the latest gen of products (iPod touch, iPhone, and now I think it includes the iPad is included in that too)

[Dabo415]

05:38 PM on 03/02/2011

The problem with your simple solution is that many of these "FREE" apps are actually just malware themselves. Which make is a much less simple solution...

[jasonsabio]

07:00 PM on 03/02/2011

Wrong. The free apps I listed are not malware themselves so it remains an extremely simple solution. If you downloaded one of the malware apps listed in this article it would have been immediately blocked by Lookout. That's pretty simple if you ask me.

BTW, of the 100,000+ apps in the Android Market they found 21 to be malware... .021% would hardly be considered "many" by any respectable statistician.

[Anthony Dodd]

03:09 PM on 03/02/2011

Gee, it's too bad that companies like Apple don't have stricter submission policies to avoid such absolutely baloney. :sarcasm:

[Rich Phitzwell]

05:22 PM on 03/02/2011

Apple has in the past approved apps that in turn were not what they seemed to be and later removed. Even under the strictest guidelines, there will always be away of sneaking in something. It is a war where one will always find away around the controls set in place. I would like google to scan each submission to the market for said issues but there has to be a balance between the open and closed systems.

[Anthony Dodd]

06:40 PM on 03/02/2011

"Apple has in the past approved apps that in turn were not what they seemed to be and later removed."

False equivalency. A Google search reveals that there there has been very little (if any) iPhone malware, and stuff downloaded 'off the web' or onto jailbroken phones (two examples) only victimize idiots who circumvent Apple's store in the first place.

21 malware proves that Droid does attract malware apps.

[Carlo Pena]

04:12 AM on 03/03/2011

What balance is needed? Android market is open, yet still doesn't have nearly as much high quality apps in the iOS market. This is while Google has NO app approval process, and while Apple has the strictest approval process and is supposedly "closed." You would think that Google had the dominant app market because of this. Four years has passed, and no. Their marketplace situation only grew more fragmented and riddled with malware.

So what benefit was there again to Android OS being open? An open-source OS is only beneficial for professional programmers, and has nothing to do with everyday people like you and I. Are you suggesting that every single Android user is a professional programmer?

I don't trust open source OS's. It's why Windows was LEGENDARY for viruses, malware and blue screens of death while you hear none of that hassle over on the other side.

[hypnotoad72]

05:26 PM on 03/02/2011

Who needs apps being vetted? iphone's SMS database can be hacked in 20 seconds and the iphone needn't be jailbroken... (it also takes 5 seconds to do a web search to find out what the default root account password is on an iDevice...)

[Rich Phitzwell]

05:36 PM on 03/02/2011

Apple fanboys have disregarded security for years under the impression that there are no exploits for a mac. Whenever an exploit was found for an apple product it was never mentioned in the media, but the moment an exploit was discovered for windows it was all over the media. Well windows had the market share, now apple has a sizable market share with all their iwhatevers and people still ignore any warnings. No system is perfect. none. Its a war that will never end.

[JKraz]

09:25 PM on 03/02/2011

It also has to be stolen first.

[Troff]

03:07 PM on 03/02/2011

For the record, I own an iPhone 4 which I find far superior to any android phone I've tried, BUT...

I don't know what you people condoning Apple's Mubarak approach to the app store is on about. Which garden do you think in the long run will prove more interesting: the one where anything is allowed to sprout but is then occasionally weeded or the one where only the already known to fit the bill seeds are allowed?

[SubgeniusMustHaveSlack]

05:00 PM on 03/02/2011

OS security is more critical than ever. I prefer to know I am protected.

[Troff]

05:13 PM on 03/02/2011

That would be great if it were true, but I see iPhones getting hacked pretty much on a daily basis through a number of different mechanisms, although Safari and the pdf-reader seems very popular. If you google for iphone exploits you'll get more than a million hits.

[J0E1]

06:29 PM on 03/02/2011

if I want tomatoes in my garden, I don't want someone telling me that tomatoes aren't allowed because they might possibly conflict slightly with my peppers.