Scam Alert: Android malware masquerades as Angry Birds Space

Tread lightly, Angry Birds fans. If you downloaded the brand spanking new Angry Birds Space from an unofficial Android market, it could very well have malware tucked inside. Sophos security blog Naked Security reports that Android malware authors have pushed a fully playable (and illegal) version of Rovio's hit sequel to unofficial Android app stores, SophosLabs has found.

The game looks and plays just like the real deal, but is actually a Trojan horse known as Andr/KongFu-L. This malware uses an exploit called GingerBreak to gain access to an Android device's root files and install malicious code. But wait, there's more: The Trojan then uses the phone's wireless connection to communicate with another website to install even more malware.

And if you downloaded this phony app, you're still not out of the woods yet. According to Naked Security, the malware then allows hackers to push certain URLs to your Android phone's browser. At that point, you're basically no longer in control of your own phone--this is serious stuff. So please, just download apps from Google Play or Amazon Appstore already? And if you are a victim of this issue, we'd say hit up Sophos. They seem to know their stuff.

Did you download this bum version of Angry Birds Space? Where do you get your Android apps and games from? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

 

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Source: http://blog.games.com/2012/04/12/angry-birds-space-android-malware/

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