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David Barnes
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4 Mar 2011
March 4th, 8:59am 0 comments

Android hit by rogue app viruses. Open is better than closed except when it's not.

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This is a real bummer for Android and Google. The iPhone app store has grown massive and hasn't had a single bungle up like this. On iPhone: if you play by the rules, you're safe.

This is not the case with Android apparently:

More than 50 applications available via the official Android Marketplace have been found to contain a virus.

Analysis suggests that the booby-trapped apps may have been downloaded up to 200,000 times.

The malicious apps were copies of existing applications, such as games, that had been repackaged to include the virus code.


There are two problems at work here. First, the openness of the platform means that it's easy to add any code to any app and nobody will check... unlike the Apple App Store where everything is subject to careful checks.

But the real problem with Android isn't that the App Store is open -- it's that the handset manufactures fiddle with Android itself, and then are slow to roll out updates -- updates that might be critical for security:

The latest version of the Android operating system, known as Gingerbread, is not vulnerable to the exploits DroidDream uses.

... problem is, most users don't have Gingerbread. Google needs to man up fast and get device manufacturers into line. If they're not going to keep their OSs up to date they shouldn't be allowed to use the Android brand to market their phones.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12633923


Posted by David Barnes