Symantec Circles Out Android.Arspam Trojan
Looking at the recent trends, it seems like malware and hacktivism are only on the rise. Symantec's research has led to the discovery of a new Trojan, Android.Arspam. This Trojan was distributed through forums highlighting the Middle Eastern issues and used Android Operating system as a carrier.
It's not a surprising fact that this Trojan is associated with the Middle East market. A lot of cybercrime and hacktivism has been seen on that front. With the Arab Spring emerging in the Middle East owing to the recent protests and demonstrations, there has been a high dependency on social media to organize, communicate, and raise awareness. The Middle East is also known to be a hub of electronics devices with an increasingly connected and mobile online community. This makes the region easily vulnerable to exploitation.
#-Link-Snipped-#
The Android.Arspam Trojan made its way into Android-based devices through a fake copy of a popular Islamic compass app available on the Android Market. Though the real version of the app is still safe. So, when a user installs the fake app, the Arspam code which is embedded in the fake copy activates itself working in the background as a service called alArabiyyah. The Trojan then randomly picks one link from a list of eighteen and then sends an SMS message to every contact in the address book of the hacked device, sending them a link to a forum site. According to Symantec, every link to a forum site points to identical content, which seems to be a tribute to Mohamed Bouaziz.
These kinds of Trojan are one of the many ways to promote hacktivism. "It is of crucial importance that individuals and organisations secure themselves across all devices as these ‘gateway' threats become more sophisticated and potentially harmful," said  Teksoz, chief security strategist, Emerging Markets, Symantec.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#Â Image Credit:#-Link-Snipped-#
It's not a surprising fact that this Trojan is associated with the Middle East market. A lot of cybercrime and hacktivism has been seen on that front. With the Arab Spring emerging in the Middle East owing to the recent protests and demonstrations, there has been a high dependency on social media to organize, communicate, and raise awareness. The Middle East is also known to be a hub of electronics devices with an increasingly connected and mobile online community. This makes the region easily vulnerable to exploitation.
#-Link-Snipped-#
The Android.Arspam Trojan made its way into Android-based devices through a fake copy of a popular Islamic compass app available on the Android Market. Though the real version of the app is still safe. So, when a user installs the fake app, the Arspam code which is embedded in the fake copy activates itself working in the background as a service called alArabiyyah. The Trojan then randomly picks one link from a list of eighteen and then sends an SMS message to every contact in the address book of the hacked device, sending them a link to a forum site. According to Symantec, every link to a forum site points to identical content, which seems to be a tribute to Mohamed Bouaziz.
These kinds of Trojan are one of the many ways to promote hacktivism. "It is of crucial importance that individuals and organisations secure themselves across all devices as these ‘gateway' threats become more sophisticated and potentially harmful," said  Teksoz, chief security strategist, Emerging Markets, Symantec.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#Â Image Credit:#-Link-Snipped-#
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