Two major companies in the field of online security, Symantec and Lookout, are arguing whether a particular app is infecting more than 5 million Android phones. The fact that this app is available in the official Android marketplace is bothering these security experts. According to Symantec, a lot of publishers are pushing out an app called Android.Counterclank. Symantec believes that this app is capable of stealing personal information from devices, making it a threat to users. Apparently, any individual can create such apps with a few Android training classes. On the other hand, these technical courses also provide sufficient knowledge for someone who wants to create a malware.
The other company called Lookout Mobile Security, specializes in Android and mobile security. Lookout Mobile Security disagrees with the Symantec’s assessment. According to Lookout, the Android.Counterclank is not a malware, but the SDK Apperhand that is inside the application is an aggressive ad network. Because of this, the app could be considered as adware. Adwares are notorious for intrusive advertising on a system. For a long time, this issue has plagued desktops, but with apps like the Android.Counterclank, the problem has become increasingly troublesome to mobile phones as well.
Android is the Primary Target
Today, Android dominates the smartphone market, and because of this, it has become a major target for viruses. Malware creators find it quite easy to spread harmful software because apart from the official marketplace, Android apps also have various unofficial markets. A lot of these markets are not as strictly regulated as the AppStore by Apple. McAfee, another popular computer security company, revealed that Android was the exclusive target for all the new malware released in the third quarter of 2011. Even though Symbian software from Nokia has the largest number of malware for it, Android is targeted because of the number of people using it.
Details about Counterclank
Symantec has come up with three publishers, namely Ogre Games, iApps7, and Redmicapps, whose apps have the Counterclank malware. Symantec stated there are 13 apps which have this malware and is another variant of Tonclank. Tonclank was first identified by Symantec in 2011 and they said that this malware is capable of opening a backdoor and downloading files on the phone. They believe that Counterclank is capable of pushing various ads on the device as well as stealing phone numbers, account details, and browser history. All this information can be sent to apperhand.com, which does not have anything on its home page apart from ‘Hello World’. Nothing is known about the owners of ‘Hello World’. In fact, anyone who has attended a few Python training classes, which is the base programming language for Android OS, can easily accomplish a feat like this.
Another problem that Android market place is facing is that of rebundling. A lot of publishers simply copy the app from a reputable company and then upload it to the market again. Because there is no approval required before hand, such companies get away with counterfeiting easily.
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