Google dismisses Android botnet claim

BANGALORE, INDIA: Google has dismissed Microsoft researcher's claim on Android phone botnet stating that there was no evidence to support the researchers claim.

It may be recalled here that early this week Microsoft researcher Terry Zink claimed to have discovered evidence of Android phones being enrolled into a botnet.

Botnets typically use infected PCs as spam generators but Zink said he found evidence that Android smartphones were being used in the same way.

The search giant's investigation suggested the junk messages originated on PCs but the spammers sending them formatted them to look like they came from Android smartphones.

Incidentally Mobile security specialist Lookout has also questioned Zink's initial claim. In a blogpost, head of the firm Kevin Mahaffey said it was possible that the spam was originating from lots of Android phones infected with a malicious program.

"Our analysis suggests that spammers are using infected computers and a fake mobile signature to try to bypass anti-spam mechanisms in the email platform they're using," said Google.