SMS-Sending Malware detected on Android Phones

According to Kaspersky Labs, an SMS-sending piece of malware has hit Android phones.

The so-called "Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a" appears as a "normal media player application," according to Kaspersky, but can send SMS text messages to premium numbers without the user's consent. It is the first such piece of malware to target Android devices, and it is already in the wild.

Kaspersky, however, did not name the innocuous media player application, although the firm did say that it is about 13 Kbytes in size.

Not surprisingly, Kaspersky has added it to its antivirus database, although the company does not currently offer an antivirus solution for the Android OS, just versions of Windows Mobile and the Symbian operating system. An Android version is on the way, however.

"The IT market research and analysis organization IDC has noted that those selling devices running Android are experiencing the highest growth in sales among smartphone manufacturers," said Denis Maslennikov, mobile research group manager at Kaspersky Lab, in a statement. "As a result, we can expect to see a corresponding rise in the amount of malware targeting that platform. Kaspersky Lab is actively developing technologies and solutions to protect this operating system and plans to release Kaspersky Mobile Security for Android in early 2011."

Maslennikov said that users should keep a close eye on what services an app says it will request before they install it, which implies that it will not spread without a user's permission.

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