Researchers at NC State University have identified a new Android malware called DroidKungFu, which started to circulate. A dreadful part of this malware is that, it contains advanced techniques to avoid detection by current mobile anti-virus software. In addition, it affects all Android versions.
The researchers (Assistant professor Xuxian Jiang and student Yajin Zhou) have already identified two infected android apps, which are circulated in more than eight third-party Android app stores and forums based in China. However, they started to review other apps marketplaces as well.
“DroidKungFu takes advantage of two vulnerabilities in the platform software to install a backdoor that gives hackers full control of your phone. Not only do they have access to all of your user data, but they can turn your phone into a bot – and basically make your smartphone do anything they want’.
This is not the first time a malware take advantage of these two vulnerabilities, previously identified malware DroidDream has used the same techniques, but DroidKungFu is atypical because it can evade the detection from current mobile anti-virus software.
“However, the NC State University article reveals that the malware was tested on “two leading mobile security apps”, avoiding naming either one”.
Although the latest Android versions have patched these vulnerabilities, they are not entirely secure. The security patches severely limit DroidKungFu, but it is still able to collect some user data – such as your mobile phone device ID number – and send them to a remote site, said the NC State article. Read more about here. [Via]
