IT security firm Kaspersky said it has discovered an Android trojan yet, which according it one of the most sophisticated yet.
Detected by the firm as Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a, a multi-functional Trojan, it is said to be capable of sending SMS to premium-rate numbers; downloading other malware programmes and installing them on the infected device, as well as sending them further via Bluetooth, and remotely performing commands in the console.
The malware, which is very well concealed, through code obfuscation, can infiltrate previously unknown holes in the Android operating system, running undetected in the background mode.
This Trojan, however, is not very widespread yet. It amounts to no more than 0.15% of all malware infection attempts on mobiles, according to the security firm.
Kaspersky Lab Expert Roman Unuchek said that a feature of of this Trojan was that it is not possible to delete this malicious application once it has gained administrator privileges: by exploiting a previously unknown Android vulnerability, the malicious application enjoys extended privileges, but is not listed as an application with Device Administrator privileges.
Google representatives have already been notified about this vulnerability by Kaspersky.
Users have been told that they can help protect their devices from malware by making sure that they do not permit untrusted applications in their settings.
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Kaspersky cautions that the complexity of Android malware programmes is growing rapidly alongside their numbers.
