Malware designed to take over cameras and record audio enters Google Play

Posted by BernardSwiss on Mar 9, 2014 1:31 AM EDT
Ars Technica; By Dan Goodin
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The scourge of the remote access trojan (RAT)—those predatory apps that use Web microphones and cameras to surreptitiously spy on victims—has formally entered the Android arena. Not only have researchers found a covert RAT briefly available for download in the official Google Play store, they have also detected a full-featured toolkit for sale in underground forums that could make it easy for other peeping Toms to do the same thing.

The specific RAT in Google Play was disguised as a legitimate app called Parental Control, according to Marc Rogers, principal security researcher at Lookout Mobile, a provider of antimalware software for Android phones. He doesn't know exactly how long it was available on Google servers, but he believes it wasn't long.

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