elderganget

As we mentioned last week, cybercriminals have gotten smarter and more brazen as they try to attack our Internet-enabled devices, including laptops, tablets and smartphones. MSNBC recently sat down with officials from Lookout, an anti-virus company that specializes in smartphones, to warn the public about the six biggest offenders in smartphone malware. Below is the list. 1.      Geinimi Trojan Affects “cutesy” game apps, like Monkey Jump 2, which are available in non-Android sanctioned app stores. Can download any and all information stored on your smartphone. 2.      SMS Android Trojan Is often hidden in Android-based movie player apps. Can send premium text messages that will cost you big time. 3.      3D Anti-terrorists Looks like a game, which can be accessed from your smartphone browser or downloaded as a Windows Mobile app. Can make international calls from your phone number. MSNBC noted that because there wasn’t an official Windows Mobile app store it was easier for cybercriminals to fool these app downloaders. 4.      TapSnake Similar looking to the classic game Snake. Can track your location via the smartphone’s GPS function. It would then download a premium GPS app that could steal additional data. 5.      Red Bunny Trojan Disguised as a mobile browser, the Red Bunny diverts your searches to certain ad pages. Lookout believes Red Bunny Trojan may be part of a pay-per-click scam. 6.      Ikee Worm This worm affects jailbroken iPhones. Many people who jailbreak their iPhones do so to avoid paying for premium apps. However, this opens them up to a variety of viruses, malware and worms, like Ikee. The worm will start infecting the initial user’s phone before moving on to contacts listed in that phone. While it’s difficult to avoid every ill-intentioned app or program out there, you can reduce your risk of infection by only purchasing apps from official app stores. And don’t jailbreak your iPhone. That can be bad.