Millions of Android users hit by malicious data theft app

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 216
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Love to see the fandroids response to this...



    I’m looking forward to the counterargument. I can’t think of a single angle that is pro-Android on this one.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by peter02l View Post


    Millions affected. Not a single one complains. And no lawsuits! And yet some of these Android users (who don't even own an iPhone 4) are constantly finding a new thing about the iPhone to carp about.



    It is amazing that one modern mobile OS gets denigrate for even the simplest slip up and the other modern mobile OS can make huge errors in design that are well known to fail and barely anyone will ever know it existed despite the number of people it affects.
  • Reply 22 of 216
    donarbdonarb Posts: 52member
    Press conference!!! And free bumpers for everybody!!!
  • Reply 23 of 216
    daveswdavesw Posts: 406member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by donarb View Post


    Press conference!!! And free bumpers for everybody!!!



    how about free iPhone 4s for Android users who downloaded this crap?
  • Reply 24 of 216
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    It's strangely quite on this thread ... no DaHarder ... no Ireland .... no extreme (altho' sometimes he actually says something worthwhile) .... no 8CoreWhore. NO TROLLS!



    So this is what paradise feels like. Enjoy it while we can .... they'll all be back soon.
  • Reply 25 of 216
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by newbee View Post


    no extreme (altho' sometimes he actually says something worthwhile) ...



    I no longer see Extreme as trolling. All the posts from him that I’ve read, for months now (at least), have been thoughtful and balanced.
  • Reply 26 of 216
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member
    Android. The new "Windows" for the mobile environment. Time to start including even more crapware like anti-malware, anti-virus, anti-everything just like its Windows counterpart.
  • Reply 27 of 216
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    No issues with the 3 Android phones and two Android tablets in my home, but the spouse's iPhone 4 appears to be dropping calls a bit more than usual today (as indicated by her angrily exclaiming as much upon walking through the door this evening), and the old iPhone 3g didn't take too kindly to that last firmware update.



    Oh Well... I guess we're just Android-Lucky
  • Reply 28 of 216
    daveswdavesw Posts: 406member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    No issues with the 3 Android phones and two Android tablets in my home, but the spouse's iPhone 4 appears to be dropping calls a bit more than usual today (as indicated by her angrily exclaiming as much upon walking through the door this evening), and the old iPhone 3g didn't take too kindly to that last firmware update.



    Oh Well... I guess we're just Android-Lucky





    Enjoy your spyware
  • Reply 29 of 216
    bertpbertp Posts: 274member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Android. The new "Windows" for the mobile environment. Time to start including even more crapware like anti-malware, anti-virus, anti-everything just like its Windows counterpart.



    Don't forget the clueless who won't pick up on what you just said.
  • Reply 30 of 216
    qualiaqualia Posts: 73member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I?m looking forward to the counterargument. I can?t think of a single angle that is pro-Android on this one.







    It is amazing that one modern mobile OS gets denigrate for even the simplest slip up and the other modern mobile OS can make huge errors in design that are well known to fail and barely anyone will ever know it existed despite the number of people it affects.





    I think I know the argument Android fanboys will spout: "They should've checked the source code! It's their own fault they didn't. Noobs! I want Android to be mainstream but want it to remain exclusive to tech nerds as well! Just like Linux!" And yet, Apple users are called the elitists.



    Seriously though, I feel bad for all the Android users (who aren't fanboys and most likely only use an Android because their network doesn't have an iPhone) whose information has been compromised in the name of OPEN.
  • Reply 31 of 216
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dmsimmer View Post


    No Jacket Required...but you better wear a condom



    Motorola DROID X - No Jacket Required!



    ...but the hacker in China sure likes the $2,000 leather jacket he bought himself with your stolen CC number!
  • Reply 32 of 216
    qualiaqualia Posts: 73member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Android. The new "Windows" for the mobile environment. Time to start including even more crapware like anti-malware, anti-virus, anti-everything just like its Windows counterpart.



    Well, they do love to bleat about how this is the Mac/PC wars all over. I guess they're trying to imitate the PC as much as possible, down to the insecurity of the platform and even the contempt its users have for it!
  • Reply 33 of 216
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davesw View Post


    unbelievable ROFL!



    http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/0...d-by-millions/



    "Hering said in a press conference afterward that he believes both Google and Apple are on top of policing their app stores, particularly when there are known malware problems with apps."



    Unbelievable Indeed - Not!
  • Reply 34 of 216
    gwydiongwydion Posts: 1,083member
    Can anyone tell me how an application with Phone Info permission can read SMS's, history bookmarks, voice mail password?
  • Reply 35 of 216
    daveswdavesw Posts: 406member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    "Hering said in a press conference afterward that he believes both Google and Apple are on top of policing their app stores, particularly when there are known malware problems with apps."



    Unbelievable Indeed - Not!





    enjoying the "wallpaper" on your android phone yet?
  • Reply 36 of 216
    mike fixmike fix Posts: 270member
    This can/will happen to the iPhone one day. It's inevitable. But I do like the fact that there's a company doing their best to prevent such a thing from happening.
  • Reply 37 of 216
    daveswdavesw Posts: 406member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gwydion View Post


    Can anyone tell me how an application with Phone Info permission can read SMS's, history bookmarks, voice mail password?





    well we (iPhone owners) wouldn't know. ask DaHarder
  • Reply 38 of 216
    onhkaonhka Posts: 1,025member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davesw View Post


    Enjoy your spyware



    Darnit davesw,



    I was just thinking, "Not a troll in sight. Perhaps I don't have to have an ignore list." Then you responded to Da Harder, which defeats my 'ignore'.



    Thank you.



    Though it was good while it lasted.



    My Ignore List (Subject to change) AngusYoung battlescarred'red 1 Bagman BenRoethig Blackintosh Bloodshottrollin captmark Chopper chronster Da Harder extremeskater iGenius (aka Josh.B and SpotOn) g3-ro gVibe Gazoobee ski1 Sofabut SpotOn StLBluesFan Stonefree Tekstud AngusYoung Mactripper (aka WooHoo) Matt_s Stevie Stonefree webmail
  • Reply 39 of 216
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davesw View Post


    enjoying the "wallpaper" on your android phone yet?



    Yes, very much so as they're all from my own personal photo collection...
  • Reply 40 of 216
    chopperchopper Posts: 246member
    The schadenfreude being expressed here may well haunt a few posters in the future since the report cited points out that the app concerned did exactly what it was meant to, much like the "flashlight" app from Apple's AppStore.



    Both had hidden functionality that the stores' respective app police failed to spot. How did that happen? Who can say.



    What it does show is that there's no guarantee on either platform that the app you downloaded, digitally signed or not, won't have a payload that does something that you didn't agree to. And that payload might conceivably compromise your personal info.



    The "Flashlight" app wasn't discovered by Apple. In order to deliver its benefits to the end user, the user needed to know how to access it, and once the info was out there, it was only a matter of time before somebody blogged it. That's how Apple became aware of it, and subsequently pulled it.



    Click for info.



    That app, for those unfamiliar with it, enabled tethering on the iPhone. A rather innocuous payload to be sure, but still forbidden by Apple. It could quite easily have been far less benign though, and there's no guarantee that there's not a smarthone app already doing the self same thing with your privacy right now. On either platform.



    However, having pointed out what ought to have been obvious to everybody who bothered reading the report, the real kicker is that my iPhone likely puts me at as much risk of data theft as any smartphone user out there, and that fact is rather less deserving of glee and much more deserving of caution. Especially using free app downloads.



    Let's be careful out there.
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