New Android malware poses as a Google+ app to steal data

Consumer Reports News: August 17, 2011 05:23 PM

Find Ratings

Antivirus Software

Computers

Security researchers at Trend Micro have discovered a malware app on Android that is disguised as an app for Google+, Google's new social network.

The malware app, named Google++, records phone calls and collects personal information such as GPS location, text messages, e-mails, and call logs, among other things. It sends the information to a website where cybercriminals can presumably grab it.

The malware can also automatically answer phone calls from certain phone numbers in the app's configuration file while the phone's screen is off. It puts the phone in silent mode and hides the keypad as it answers calls. The screen also goes blank. The malware is only able to answer calls on phones running the Android 2.2 OS or below.

Trend Micro said the app is low-risk, however, because a consumer must download it from a website and manually install it. Furthermore, it can be removed manually from a device (select settings, then applications, then manage applications, and then choose Google++, and uninstall it). Trend Micro also offers an online guide for protecting Android smart phones.

Earlier this month, security company Lookout released a report that said Android phones are two and a half times more likely to encounter malware today than they were six months ago, and that the number of malware apps has increased from 80 in January to more than 400 in June.

In Consumer Reports' latest report on online security, our own survey data indicate that mobile phones are the new risk to digital security. Check out Consumer Reports' Guide to Online Security for tips on how to keep your data safe.

Sources:
Android malware eavesdrops on users, uses Google+ as disguise [Trend Micro]
New Android malware hides as Google+ app [TechCrunch]

—Evan MacDonald