Porn can give you a virus (on your Android phone)

David Heath
Sunday, 12 September 2010 18:22

Business IT - Security

Appearing similar to the first Android infection reported a month ago, the latest Trojan-SMS malware sets up a clear money pathway from the Android-based phone of the victim to the cyber criminals.

According to kaspersky Lab, the latest Trojan, called SMS.AndroidOD.FakePlayer.b, appears to be a media player to the soon-to-be-infected phone user.  Although at 16.4KB, it would have to be a remarkably compact piece of software.

Delivery of the malware is the amusing part of this tale.

Should an Android-based phone owner be unwise enough to search for pornographic videos, they might find that a variety of Russian-language sites appear at the top of the search results.

According to Kaspersky's report on the new malware, "the owners of these adult content sites are deliberately prompting Android users to download the new Trojan, while users of other platforms receive the desired content."

Unlike many Windows-targeted viruses and trojans which are infecting merely by visiting a loaded web site, the Trojan-SMS must be manually installed by the user.  The package, called porkplayer.apk is (supposedly) required to view the adult content videos.

During the installation process, the software requests permission to send SMS messages, something that ought to seem odd to anyone installing a media player.