We have all been caught in using technology so frequently in our lives that we sometimes turn blind towards the hazards that continually threaten our security. Earlier there was threat to the security of our house, valuables etc. Then that threat shifted to the security of our computer. Slowly and slowly we moved on to using laptops and notebooks. Finally the operating system came down to rest on our palms. Today we own a device that can be conveniently held in our palms and we seek to control the whole world with just a click. But remember where there is power, a threat is bound to be there. So now there’s a new threat for phones with the Android operating system.
The threat is a mobile malware that can remotely control your Android-based smartphone. Make sure you think twice before you click the download button because Google has tracked down about 50 apps infected by malware in the Android market. All these applications had been infected by malicious code that was released by three publishers. The malware has been nicknamed ‘DreamDroid’. You could not have probably imagined what this DreamDroid can do through your phone. Beware, it can pocket you SIM card serial number and IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). It can therefore, have access to the root level of your device and then further it can connect your device through an encrypted connection to a command and control server.
With the number of applications in the Android Market growing by leaps and bounds with each passing day, it is not a very strange thing that a few apps are able to escape detection. On the one hand, we have the Apple app store that screens the code of each and every app but this is not possible in Android market. To cover this lack of ability to screen each code, Google exercises control by using a master switch to undertake the process of remotely uninstalling an application from the Android device of a user. Although this has not been done so far, yet it is likely to happen in near future.
Your phone can have confidential information stored on it, which can be accessed by malware. All you Android users out there, if you have not yet synced your device with your Google Account, you must do so without any delay. You will soon realize benefits of doing so.
