Android threat set to trigger on the end of days

Symantec Security Response: Android threat set to trigger on the end of days, or the day's end

Symantec continues to see a growing number of new malware threats targeting mobile devices. The latest incarnation is Android.Smspacem, which is a Trojanised version of the legitimate “Holy F**king Bible” app.

What makes this threat particularly interesting is its tie-in to the date of May 21, 2011 and the recent news around speculation that the end of the world would occur that day. On this date, the malware began automatically replying to SMS messages sent to infected devices with the following text: “Cannot talk right now, the world is about to end.” It then randomly selected one of several other similar predefined messages and proceeded to send those to users’ entire contact lists. All of the messages appear to mock the speculation that the end of the world would occur on that day.

The threat also tries to contact a host service and attempts to retrieve a command from a remote location. Finally, it changes infected devices’ wallpapers to several predefined images. Since this threat is spreading on unregulated Android marketplaces, Symantec recommends configuring devices to prevent the download of apps from places other than the official Android Market. This configuration is the default on most devices.

More information on this threat can be found in the following Symantec blog post: http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/android-threat-set-trigger-end-days-or-day-s-end

ENDS

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