First Apps Targeting Android Key Vulnerability Found in the Wild 54
wiredmikey writes with this tidbit from Security Week: "Earlier this month, researchers from Bluebox Security uncovered a serious vulnerability in Android that allowed for the modification of apps without affecting the cryptographic signature, making it possible for attackers to turn legitimate apps into Trojans. ... Now, Symantec says it has uncovered the first malicious apps making use of the exploit in the wild. Symantec discovered two mobile applications that were infected by an attacker, which are legitimate applications used to help find and make doctor appointments and distributed on Android marketplaces in China. 'An attacker has taken both of these applications and added code to allow them to remotely control devices, steal sensitive data such as IMEI and phone numbers, send premium SMS messages, and disable a few Chinese mobile security software applications by using root commands, if available,' Symantec explained in a blog post. ... Google has fixed the security hole in Android, but it is now in the control of handset manufacturers to produce and release the updates for mobile devices to patch the flaws."
Re:In other words ... (Score:5, Informative)
The other app is from Bluebox Security and is called Bluebox Security Scanner. The Scanner app will simply tell you if your phone has the Master Key vulnerability. Bluebox Security Scanner [google.com]
Re:In other words ... (Score:2, Informative)
This has already been happening, at Google I/O this year there were loads of announcements of changes and new APIs, but these were all done through app updates, no new os revision was released. So bit by bit they are carefully moving key features out of the base install and into APKs that can be updated through the play store. There are certain features that require an os update to liberate them, but it looks promising.