NetQin Mobile, a provider of mobile security services, has identified two new spyware programs on Android devices named "SW.SecurePhone" and "SW.Qieting".
The company said that once installed on Android devices the new spyware can cause serious privacy leakage.
The SW.SecurePhone runs in the background without any icon displayed and will monitor the phone and collect data to save on the SD card.
The data, including messages, call log, location of the phone, recorded sounds around the phone and pictures in the phone, will then be uploaded to a remote server every 20 minutes, the company said.
The SW.SecuirePhone spyware is said to be mainly distributed in the US through downloading from the Internet.
The second spyware, SW.Qieting automatically forwards messages received to a monitoring phone without the user being aware and there is no icon displayed after installation.
The company suggests that to avoid these kind of spyware, users should download applications from trusted sources and do check reviews, ratings and developer information before downloading.
Users should never blindly accept application requests and must monitor permissions requested by any application; an application should not request to do more than what it offers in its official list of features.
In addition, user should be on alert for unusual fee deduction, as this may be a sign that the phone is infected; and install a trusted security app to protect phone from security threats, the company said.
