Fee-deduction malware on Android devices spotted in wild

BEIJING, CHINA: NetQin Mobile Inc, a mobile security company, has discovered new malware lurking within more than 20 Android applications circulating via various forums on the internet which auto-dials phone numbers to incur high user fees.

NetQin has listed the infected mobile applications as; QQ Doudizhu, Voice SMS, Drag Racing, Trader, Donkey Jump, Jungle Monkey and Gold Miner among others.

NetQin in a release stated that BaseBridge, the malware, can be embedded in legitimate applications, and when the applications are being installed, the malware prompts the user to upgrade, and once the user chooses to upgrade, the malware is installed in the device under the software name "com.android.battery". Then, another prompt would pop up to ask the user to restart the app to run it, and the Malware is formally activated upon restarting, a NetQin release stated.

Also read: Android malware samples grow 400 percent

According to NetQin, upon activation, the malware would activate three malicious services -- AdSmsService, BridgeProvider and PhoneService -- to communicate with a control server, from which it will download a configuration list to read related information and dial calls or send out SMS messages accordingly, incurring fees for the users. Meanwhile, the Malware also blocks messages from the mobile carrier to prevent users from getting fee consumption updates in time so that all malicious activities are undertaken stealthily without the user's knowledge or consent. The malware may also insert messages to the inbox of a mobile device at a designated time.

When unlocking the screen of an infected device on which 360 Safeguard is installed, the malware would cause a false message to appear, stating that the 360 Safeguard is terminated due to an error/exception while the 360 Safeguard is actually running normally.

According to NetQin, "auto dialing" generally refers to the act of a malware that has intruded and taken over a mobile device in dialing a number without the user's knowledge. Malware often control mobile devices, using them to dial a designated number which may incur high fees in the process. This is the first time an auto-dialing malware that causes fee deduction is spotted on Android devices although similar software was once found on Symbian devices, which is a sign that mobile threats on Android are becoming more diversified.

This is another large-scale outbreak of Android malware after DroidDream that has forced Google to remove more than 50 rogue applications from its Android Market earlier this year, once again sounding alarms for mobile users that mobile threats cannot be ignored, NetQin said.