Five million Android users vulnerable to new malware attack

According to a report by Symantec, 13 applications from three developers are carrying malicious chunks of code called the Android.Counterclank. Many of these applications are in the official Android market. This code is suspected to be running on around 5 million phones and are said to be stealing information from the tablets and also running ads against the will of the device owners.

These applications are downloadable for over a month and Symantec also called it as the biggest outbreak of malware on Android. The applications which are found to be affected by this malware are distributed by iApps7, Ogre Games and redmicapps. The applications are mostly games and the list of these games is as follows:

• Counter Elite Forces
• Counter Strike Ground Force
• Counter Strike Hit Enemy
• Heart Live Wallpaper
• Hit Counter Terrorist
• Stripper Touch Girl
• Balloon Game
• Deal & Be a Millionaire
• Wild Man
• Pretty women lingerie puzzle
• Sexy Girls Photo Game
• Sexy Girls Puzzle
• Sexy Women Puzzle

Symantec also believes that these publishers exist solely to distribute malware. But as reported by Computerworld an Android-centric security firm claimed that the behavior of these applications is on par with at least 10 other ad networks and they should not be considered as malware.

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