Virus alert – Advertisements in Android applications

Virus on android app

Unfortunately, in the last few months, we heard about more and more applications often infected with all sorts of viruses affecting the mobile phones based on the Android operating system.  Android smartphones are becoming increasingly popular so people with malicious intentions are creating extremely inventive solutions to lure users into installing malicious applications.
On their forums, Lookout Mobile Security has described a new method through which Android phones could be infected. This time, apparently, the malware is not directly located in the Android Market. It is a somewhat more sophisticated method. If you downloaded one of the many free applications present on the Android Market, you’ve probably noticed that many of them have advertising banners.
It seems that some of these advertisements promote two applications: Battery Saving and Sexy Pics, specifically designed to fool the gullible ones. Once the user clicks on that banner, it is sent to a webpage that resembles very much to the official Android Market. By installing these applications, you get nothing but a Trojan infecting your mobile phone. It is called GGTraker and it silently sends SMS to premium SMS subscription services. The result? Zero credit card or an overly inflated phone bill at the end of the month!
It seems that only users in the United States are targeted by the Trojan. Our advice is to be very careful and keep your eyes open at your installed applications. You can control which permissions does a certain app asks for because you choose to install it. As a last resort, you can install one of the many mobile security apps available for Android phones. These apps are able to scan each app you download in order to make sure that they are completely safe. Be smart and don’t fall for these fake advertisements!