Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Android malware, FUD, and the FBI

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a U.S. government task force made up of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, recently issued an Android malware warning. This has been taken by some to be yet more proof of how insecure Android is compared to Apple’s iOS. Please. Give me a break.

All the IC3’s badly written, vague release really said was that: “The IC3 has been made aware of various malware attacking Android operating systems for mobile devices. Some of the latest known versions of this type of malware are Loozfon and FinFisher.” And, what are these?

Loozlon is a Trojan horse that Symantec reports as having less than 50 reported instances. FinFisher is a much more serious spyware program.

FinFisher has been around for years on Macs and Windows PCs as “legal” spyware from Gamma International, a UK security company. Recently it’s been ported to all the major mobile devices, including Android, Blackberry, and, yes, the iPhone. It is in no way, shape, or form purely an Android problem.

Keep reading…

Read also:

Android virus alert: FBI launches laughable list of malware maladies (Computerworld (blog))

Should Android Users Really Be Worried About the FBI's Malware Warnings? (Slate Magazine (blog))

FBI Warns Android Users About Malware (Datamation)

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