Google has pulled more than 50 malware-infected apps from its Android Market, but hasn't yet triggered automatic uninstalls of those programs from users' phones, security experts said today.
"The apps were 'Trojanized,' for a better word," said Tom Parsons, a senior manager with Symantec's security response team. "With the phones being 'rooted,' the attacks can do almost anything, including pulling data off the phone," he said, referring to the malware's ability to gain root access to the devices.
The apps were available for about four days on the Android Market, Google's official app store. According to San Francisco-based smartphone security firm Lookout , between 50,000 and 200,000 copies of the apps were downloaded by users.
More: http://www.pcworld.com/article/221205/
"The apps were 'Trojanized,' for a better word," said Tom Parsons, a senior manager with Symantec's security response team. "With the phones being 'rooted,' the attacks can do almost anything, including pulling data off the phone," he said, referring to the malware's ability to gain root access to the devices.
The apps were available for about four days on the Android Market, Google's official app store. According to San Francisco-based smartphone security firm Lookout , between 50,000 and 200,000 copies of the apps were downloaded by users.
More: http://www.pcworld.com/article/221205/