Phony Flash Player Plants Malware on Android Phones - thompsonstions

Adobe Flash Player users mind: A website that promises visitors a free copy of the download for all versions of Android is reportedly planting malware on smartphones running Google's mobile operational system.

The infected web pageboy used to circulate the malware was discovered in a number of Russian domains, wrote Karla Agregado, a fraud analyst with Trend Micro, in a recent company blog. A similar manoeuvre emerged last month to infect Android phones with bogus copies of Angry Birds and Instagram.

When a visitant clicks the download button at the infected land site, Agregado explained, a connection is made to another locate that, without the guest's knowledge, sends a malicious APK file to the mobile web surfer's smartphone.

Once on the phone, the malware starts to secretly transmi text messages to premium numbers. This hornswoggle is a popular one among cyber criminals targeting Android phones. Symantec estimates in its just about recent annual scourge report that in 2011 some 18 percent of all mobile threats during the year involved premium SMS messages from infected phones.

"Malware that sends premium SMS text messages can pay the author $9.99 for each textual matter and for victims not watching their telephone bill could pay off the cyber criminal numberless times," Symantec noted.

Agregado wrote that she identified a bunch of URLs hosted on the same IP address as the pestiferous web site. "Based on the naming alone exploited in these URLs, information technology appears that Mechanical man is a best-loved target for cybercriminals bottom this scheme," she same.

Mobile threats are a ontogeny trend, increasing 93 percent in 2011 over the previous year, according to John Harrison, Symantec group product manager for end point threat protection and security department technology and response.

"Malware authors are continuing to find ways to monetize a lot of these threats," atomic number 2 told PCWorld. While mobile threats are elfin compared to desktop and laptop computer threats, he observed, "it's a growing upward trend that we will continue to watch."

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