There has been a lot of talk over the last few days about applications within the official Android Marketplace containing viruses. There’s no need to panic, it’s estimated that only about 200,000 infected apps have been downloaded. The apps have now been removed from the marketplace and Google is investigating. If you have been unfortunate enough to download one of the apps, your handset will not be ruined, although you will need to take action.
How do I know if I’ve got the virus?
The virus contained within the malicious apps is known as DroidDream. The virus was added to duplicated versions of existing apps, which were then published to the marketplace by developers “Kingmall2010″, “we20090202″, and “Myournet”. These accounts have now been suspended and the apps removed. At the bottom of this post there is a list of apps that were infected with the DroidDream virus. The infected apps have now been removed, although the original apps (that were duplicated) will still be in the marketplace and are now safe to download. Check the list below, if you have downloaded any of the apps over the last week, you may want to take action.
What do I do if I think I may have downloaded the virus?
It’s probably quite unlikely, but if you do think you may have downloaded the DroidDream virus, you should do the following.
-Restore your device to factory settings. This will erase all the data, which may be necessary to remove all elements of the virus.
- Install Anti-Virus software on your handset. There are several free antivirus apps available for Android, at the moment the one that we would recommend is Lookout.
The Lookout website has posted an update on its support page which states:
Update: We’ve deployed an over-the-air update that protects Lookout users from all known instances of DroidDream.
Having had a look at some of the websites for the other Android antivirus programs, (AVG, SmartGuard) we have not yet seen an update about the DroidDream virus, so Lookout seems to be the best one to go for. It’s free and offers a range of other features as well.
How can I avoid future viruses?
There’s no sure-fire way to avoid downloading a virus, but there are precautionary steps that you should take:
-Check the comments and the history of the developer when downloading an app. If it looks suspicious, try to do a bit more research or avoid it altogether.
-Check the permissions when installing an app. If the app seems to be asking for unnecessary permissions (e.g access to phonebook for a game) then beware.
-Keep anti-virus software such as Lookout up to date.
-Do not download pirated apps. The recently infected apps were available from the Android marketplace, which meant they were picked up pretty quickly as being infected. If you download pirated apps, (in order to get them for free) they may have been tampered with in a similar way to those infected with the DroidDream virus. If this is the case, it may take you longer to pick up on the virus.
List of apps that were infected with DroidDream Virus
Full list of infected applications published by “Myournet”:
- Falling Down
- Super Guitar Solo
- Super History Eraser
- Photo Editor
- Super Ringtone Maker
- Super Sex Positions
- Hot Sexy Videos
- Chess
- 下坠滚球_Falldown
- Hilton Sex Sound
- Screaming Sexy Japanese Girls
- Falling Ball Dodge
- Scientific Calculator
- Dice Roller
- 躲避弹球
- Advanced Currency Converter
- App Uninstaller
- 几何战机_PewPew
- Funny Paint
- Spider Man
- 蜘蛛侠
Full list of infected applications published by “Kingmall2010″:
- Bowling Time
- Advanced Barcode Scanner
- Supre Bluetooth Transfer
- Task Killer Pro
- Music Box
- Sexy Girls: Japanese
- Sexy Legs
- Advanced File Manager
- Magic Strobe Light
- 致命绝色美腿
- 墨水坦克Panzer Panic
- 裸奔先生Mr. Runner
- 软件强力卸载
- Advanced App to SD
- Super Stopwatch & Timer
- Advanced Compass Leveler
- Best password safe
- 掷骰子
- 多彩绘画
Full list of infected apps under the developer name “we20090202″:
- Finger Race
- Piano
- Bubble Shoot
- Advanced Sound Manager
- Magic Hypnotic Spiral
- Funny Face
- Color Blindness Test
- Tie a Tie
- Quick Notes
- Basketball Shot Now
- Quick Delete Contacts
- Omok Five in a Row
- Super Sexy Ringtones
- 大家来找茬
- 桌上曲棍球
- 投篮高手
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