Dendroid 'Trojanizer' Turns Apps Into
Malware For Just $300
The word "Trojan" is most related to a virus programme which almost anyone who's used to a computer System can comeby.
And with this in the recent development; the word "Trojan" could be right in your pocket. *winks*
As
Crime goes commercial in day-to-day life, it therefore a MUST for you to be
very careful.
There’s
much latest in regard to the above statement;
Tom’s
Guide released this: You can now buy a tool online that turns Android apps into
malware in just a few simple steps.
Called
Dendroid, the tool costs only $300 and comes with 24-hour support. Naturally,
the developers accept Bitcoin.
First discovered by security research firm
Symantec, Dendroid is a remote access tool (RAT) that “trojanizes”
legitimate apps by inserting its malicious code into the application package
file, or APK.
Dendroid,
whose name is an adjective meaning “treelike” or “branching,” can be purchased
on underground online markets from a user who goes by “Soccer.”
Dendroid
buyers also receive what’s called an APK binder, which lets them “bind”
Dendroid’s functionality into the APK, thus creating an app that looks normal
on the outside but is full of malware on the inside.
Criminals
can then put the infected app into an Android app market, and anyone tricked
into downloading and installing it will be infected. The malware can’t
trojanize apps that are already downloaded onto your phone.
Dendroidified
apps can do just about anything a cybercriminal could want: delete the infected
phone’s call logs, make it secretly call specific phone numbers, open Web
pages, intercept text messages and more. The malware can even access the
phone’s microphone and camera to silently record calls and take video and
photos.
Users
can control these features through a command-and-control server, which appears
to be included in Dendroid’s $300 price.
Mobile
anti-malware developer Lookout claims that Dendroid seems
designed to get its infected apps into the Google Play store, the official
and most secure Android app store.
"We
only detected a single application infected with Dendroid and it has already
been removed from the Play Store," Lookout said on its blog.
"However, the developer’s account is still open."
Injecting
app APKs (Android
application package file) with malware isn’t actually that difficult; cybercriminals have been doing it
manually for years. Security researchers have even found other tools
like Dendroid for automating the process, most famously the free AndroRAT. But
Dendroid makes it easier and more accessible than ever.
To
protect against Dendroid and other "Trojanizing" apps, make sure you have robust
anti-virus protection on your phone and set it to frequently scan for malicious
code. You should also only download Android apps from the Google Play store —
make sure that “Unknown sources” is unchecked in your security settings — and
then only from legitimate developers.
