There is no doubt that Smartphones are small computers. If desktop computers can get affected with the Viruses then why not Smartphones. Till today there are many Mobile Virus reported in countries like China, Russia, Australia, US.
My Phone Factor Blog recommends tips about how does a Mobile Virus affect the smartphone? From where does these creepy software crawlers penetrate into our devices? How much damage does a malware do once affected? Is there any fix to prevent from such threats?
These are the questions for which the smartphone user has to know the answers before using the device. Before going further let us look at the list of some smartphone virus/malwares/spywares that are hiding in the apps/sms/mms/documents and eagerly waiting for just one click from the user. Want more smartphone tech news like this ? Stick around.
Trojan!MMarketPay.A@Android:
Trojan MMarketPay.A virus was discovered last year in China by TrustGo Mobile Security company. This virus is developed for Android powered devices.
The virus comes repacked with apps like com.mediawoz.goweather, com.mediawoz.gotq. Once the app is installed the virus comes to life and starts placing the orders and downloads paid apps, video contents on the China’s Mobile Market (Android app store hosted by China Mobile) automatically on behalf of the user and the user never comes to know about it until he sees the phone bill.
The virus can be found in the third party Chinese android market (not google playstore), it has affected more than 100,000 devices in China last year.
Geinimi Trojan:
This Trojan was also found in third party Chinese Android Market app store. The virus is attached with the games like Monkey Jump 2, Sex Positions, President vs. Aliens, City Defense and Baseball Superstars 2010 by the hackers. One the games are installed the virus also gets installed. After this the bugger starts to read and collect SMS messages, send and delete selected SMS messages, pull all contact information and send it to a remote server (number, name, the time they were last contacted), send cell phone information to the remote server (SIM Number, IMEI Number, Phone number, Phone location), place a phone call, silently download files and launch a web browser with a specific URL.
The Virus was first seen in 2010, now most of the antivirus vendors (Like Lookout) have solution to tackle this kind of viruses.
Other malware list includes worms like DroidKungFu, Ikee Worm, SMS Android Trojan.
How to Prevent from these threats:
– Basic tip for android smartphones, go to the application options via Settings and uncheck the “Unknown Sources”. This will prevent unwanted downloads from the third party app stores.
– Install a mobile security app/anti-virus software for your phone that scans every app you download.
– Always download the apps from trusted sources, such as reputable application markets like Google PlayStore, Amazon.
– Before downloading any app try to look at the developer name, reviews, and star ratings
– Always check the permissions an app requests. Use common sense to ensure that the permissions an app requests match the features the app provides.
– Be aware that unusual behavior on your phone could be a sign that your phone is infected. Unusual behaviors include: unknown applications being installed without your knowledge, SMS messages being automatically sent to unknown recipients, or phone calls automatically being placed without you initiating them.
– Keep a close watch on your cell phone bills.