Virus Alert: SMS Trojans found in the Android Market

Cell phones and other Android devices are at the risk of being infected by Trojans as fake apps enter the Google Android market. The malicious apps are actually premium rate SMS virus that generates SMS or text messages to premium rate destinations that results to bigger bills for smarthphone users. 

According to reports the fake apps / Trojans were added online by developer under the name “Lagostrod”. They hide as free version of popular apps including Cut the Rope and the well-loved Angry Birds. The Trojan was instantly removed from Google’s Android Market but there are different variations of the fake apps all over the web. Other Android markets, like AppBrain, still have this malicious app on their list under the developer name of “Miriada Production”.

According to analysts, the SMS Trojans have largely attacked Russian customers and continues to target a lot of users in 18 other countries, including the United Kingdom.

A similar attack at the Android market happened a few months ago. This is how the SMS trojan works: When the fake app is installed on your cell phone, a text message will be sent to a wide range of premium rate numbers. An infected phone will use up the user’s credits and eventually results to higher phone bills. 

During the previous SMS Trojan attack, Vanja Svajcer, one of top researchers at Sophos Labs, suggested that Android applications shouldn’t be allowed to self-sign and should have certified keys. Apps that are self-signed should not be allowed to send SMS messages. If by chance you have downloaded these fake apps, delete them immediately.