Google Play

On more than one occasion we have reported security problems on the platform Android Problems that were associated with some application infected with viruses, Trojans and other types of malware and that, unfortunately, were available on the market of applications Google Play Well, this case is no exception. Once again harmful applications hosted on this platform have been discovered without being detected by Google security checks

Specifically, it is a Trojan known as Android.Dropdialer , who was on a mission to send text messages to expensive phone numbers in Eastern Europe The clue is that this virus has stuck around Active for two weeks without being discovered Something that makes us wonder if Google Play's security controls are really reliableAfter this period, the security company Symantec has been the one who has raised the alarm about the applicationsthat contained this Trojan.

It is curious that, in order to get a greater number of downloads and, therefore, of phones from which to send text messages quite a lot expensive, you use two applications with very famous game titlesSpecifically, it was Super Mario Bros, the incombustible star character of Nintendo, and GTA 3 Moscow City, well-known saga of gangsters, cars and cities where you can move freely Without However, the content of these applications was quite different.

With this, according to an expert from Symantec, applications achieved a range of between 50,000 and 100,000 downloads All this without Bouncer, the bodyguard of Google Play, discover something. And it seems that Google has its weak points. According to research, this Trojan would have bypassed Google's protections by having a remote data packet Thus, the application would be clean until the moment of starting it for the first time, when it would ask the user to download a extra package with which the virus would be activated.

But this is not the first time that a security flaw in Google Play has been discovered In early June, a couple of developers and security experts named Jon Oberheide and Charlie Miller challenged Google Bouncer to demonstrate his vulnerability Apparently, this kind of bodyguard is a program that tests applications before publishing them on Google Play This test consists of using the application in a safe environment If nothing out of the ordinary is detected, the application is ready to use, while , if there is something strange, a manual test Well, these developers designed a virusto detect when it was scanned by Bouncer to remain covert and start its activity when installed on a normal device.The test was a success and served to discover that Google Play is not an impregnable fortress.

Despite this data, users of Android devices should not live in fear. There are antivirus applications and certain cautions to keep in mind that can avoid infected applications It is safest to be wary of applications that promise too much or whose permissions to work in our terminal are abusive It is also a good idea to investigate if the developer of an application is known or has positive comments from other users