[Courtesy: AndroidAuthority ]
Abstract:Malware was seen traditionally only a Microsoft Windows problem. Now that highly secured, multi-platform, standards-based UNIX environments lose influence, malware continues to spread to poorly secured Linux environments. More importantly, Google Android's mobile phone and tablet platforms have fallen victim. Attacks continue mercilessly.
Recent History
Some recent Linux and Android validated attacks: January through November 2013, December 2013, January through February 2014, March 2014, and more malware is hitting the Linux and Android platforms. The most recent attacks are using your Linux based Android phones to create money for others.
Latest Attack
At the end of March 2014, a new attack was discovered... not only on the third-party Google Android application internet sources, but also multiple infected applications were found on Google Play.
2014年03月26日 - Apps with millions of Google Play downloads covertly mine cryptocurrency
Yes, smartphones can generate digital coins, but at a painfully glacial pace.If you download applications from Google Play or other non-Google sites - you may be noticing terrible battery life, increased battery temperature, and increased network usage.
According to a blog post published Tuesday by a researcher from antivirus provider Trend Micro, the apps are Songs, installed from one million to five million times, and Prized, which was installed from 10,000 to 50,000 times. Neither the app descriptions nor their terms of service make clear that the apps subject Android devices to the compute-intensive process of mining, Trend Micro Mobile Threats Analyst Veo Zhang wrote. As of Wednesday afternoon, the apps were still available.
What This Means To You
While Google has managed to remove some trojan applications which were designed to steal CPU time from your smart phone in order to electronically harvest bit coins for application developers, there are others sitting in Google Play and in non-regulated application markets.
