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Looks like we may finally put an end to this malware nightmare that struck fear into the hearts of all Android users over the past week. A number of fraudulent applications part of an attack called “Droid Dream” have been removed from the Android market by Google.
They state that users on Android 2.2.1 and lower were at risk, so those of you on Gingerbread or Honeycomb shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Furthermore, Google will be employing their kill switch that’ll allow them to remotely remove those applications from any device that has them installed. It’s a security measure we heard about long ago and one we’re appreciating more and more as new attacks are carried out.
This particular attack is first able to send your device’s information to a remote server, but further investigation helped security experts discover code that would allow the application to download additional code. This tactic is by far the most dangerous of them all – users won’t think twice when an application isn’t asking to access all of their device’s information and features.
The skinny of it is that those applications have now been removed and Google says they’re working to make sure incidents like these are minimized in the future. Having an open market is great, but it comes with great responsibility and we hope Google’s doing all they can to make people feel safe about downloading applications in the future. [Google]
Any list of the applications available?
Great if they can just acknowledge the insane problems with Honeycomb on my xoom. Tits
There should be some sort of approval process for apps. This isn’t going to get better anytime soon.
First as usual
I love google and this just makes me trust their ‘cloud’ even more.
+1 to Google
I think it is a great thing that Google deleted the apps remotely and installed new code – “Android Market Security Tool March 2011”. Some people don’t like the idea of Google being able to remove apps remotely, or simply don’t like the idea that google has that much control over your phone, but I for one think it was very responsible of google to take these steps and would rather have them remotely remove something harmful from my phone as soon as they knew about it and could take measures rather than hoping I read about them in a forum or news site after the damage was done.
although i hate this whole concept of big brother, i realize it’s a necessary evil. one big reason…the average android consumers probably dont even know about these maleware.
Awesome news on a day in which Apple announces its OS has been attacked. X-D
i saw a ntelos samsung gem commorcial today :o
Lovely GOOGLE…:-)
So Google can kill anything like Superuser and your phones root access anytime they want to, and Obama wants a kill switch for the entire internet. The future does indeed look bright!! :|
I wanna know which apps they talk about!
“First” = moron with tiny penis.
People who’re hating on first-ers = Nerdy hates&manginas!!!!LMAO! :)
Ahh, sorry for posting flame, Quentyn.
But do you have a problem with people posting “first”?
Would you mind starting a poll on this topic? I BET SO MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE LIKE “THIS IS POINTLESS!”
Ragerageragerage. Anyway… Yerp, HIGHFIVE TO GOOGLE.
Comment 6…that’s funny …these first people must be 11-12 yrs old
Yep some policing is much needed :D kill on!
I don’t think Google have finished with this.
Google need to scan for malware when developers upload their apps to the marketplace. Only when this happens can users have a greater peace of mind.
I had a look over at the 21 apps in the malware list. In those there is an app/game called “•å‡ 何战机_PewPew
” as well…now i have a game installed, under the name pew pew. Should i have that game removed??
If you have the actual PewPew game I wouldn’t be worried. Popular apps where infected with a malware and sent back to the market from a different vendor. (Unless you game is actually called “•å‡ 何战机_PewPew of course)
Any chance kill switch may attract class action law suit trolls!
Yes, Google “handled the Marware issue,” but the core problem remains. The security hole that allowed this exploit to be so dangerous can only be corrected with an OS update and that is not available for most Android devices. Google depends upon the phone manufacturers and the carriers to provide the updates for all phones except the N1 and NS, and the carriers have no incentive to perform since most customers are locked into contracts with devices that won’t work on any other carrier.
Google is far strong and equipped enough to tackle such events. Due to this malware scene all over web,People have have now started exploring more about ADROID
I have not heard about the Apple OS attack. Where can I read about it, I want to shut up my Apple moron friends who always say there OS can’t be attacked.
I didn’t see pew pew on the list. I have two programs with that name but both are still in the market. Can anyone point to the list with pew pew?
Can Google do the kill switch on rooted devices and/or custom ROMs?