Google security crews have tossed at least a dozen smartphone games out of the Android Market after discovering they contained secret code that caused owners to accrue expensive charges for text messages sent to premium numbers.

The malicious apps, uploaded to the Google-hosted service by a developer named Logastrod, masqueraded as wildly popular games such as Angry Birds, Assassin's Creed Revelations, and NEED FOR SPEED. The developer allegedly cloned the titles, including the accompanying graphics and descriptions, and added malicious code that caused handsets to surreptitiously send and receive premium messages.

By the time Google removed the titles ? more than 24 hours after they were first made available ? more than 10,000 people had downloaded them, according to a blog post published on Monday by Sophos.
Full Story at TheRegister...
 

How much do you know about your iPhone?
Think it's secure?  Read about the secret iPhone business that you probably don't know anything about.
Read this article.  Refer it to your friends "who already know everything about computers".
 

"Today malware for Android devices is one of the biggest issues in [the] mobile malware area," said Denis Maslennikov, a senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab, in an email interview. "The growth of numbers of malware for Android is significant in [the] last 5 months. In June we've discovered 112 modifications of Android malware, in July - 212; August - 161; 559 in September; 808 in October," he added.
 
A similar trend was observed by other antivirus vendors, with Trend Micro reporting a 1410% increase in the number of Android threats from January to July 2011. "The more important figure is not the total number of malware, but the rate of increase of that malware quarter on quarter and year on year. That demonstrates current, active and sustained criminal interest in the mobile platform," said Rik Ferguson, the company's director of security research and communication.
 
The majority of Android malware threats consist of Trojans, not traditional self-replicating viruses or worms. However, these can be just as damaging if not even more so, the security experts said.

Full story on ComputerWorld
 

"Warning"   Very Important !!!!!  Please watch until the end.
 
TURN OFF THE LOCATIONS SERVICES IN YOUR SETTINGS AND TURN OFF CAMERA SO NO ONE CAN USE YOUR PICTURES TO FIND YOU. TELL YOUR KIDS TO ALSO
 
Share this with family and friends. 
If you, your kids or grand kids take pics from your phone---WATCH THIS!
At the end they'll tell you how to set your phone so you don't run this risk!
PLEASE PASS THIS INFO TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO TAKES PICTURES WITH THEIR CELL OR SMART PHONE AND POSTS THEM ONLINE.
Be sure to share with all your family and friends.

To remove metadata from .jpg images before you upload them to Facebook etc., use BatchPurifier Light - a free software program.
 

Mobe makers sit on new versions for six months

The majority of Android smartphone users are walking around with insecure devices running out-of-date OS builds, leaving personal and business data at greater risk of attack.
The latest figures from Google's Android developer web site show that 44.4 per cent of users have the latest version of Android (Android 2.3 or later ?

>From theregister.co.uk

US District Judge Lynn Hughes has upheld a 2010 ruling that federal authorities need a search warrant to gain access to cell phone data that could be used to track the user's whereabouts. The earlier ruling from a magistrate judge denied three separate requests for cell phone companies to provide the information without a warrant. Hughes's ruling says that the information sought is constitutionally protected and requires a search warrant to be obtained. The authorities were requesting the information under the Stored Communications Act.

Read the story at WashingtonPost.

Other postings here on this website show you that thieves are breaking into computers... but the government needs to request permission. BarryZ

Evil 'game' can also zombenate victims
A Trojan capable of stealing data from infected Android smartphones, and bundled with botnet-style functionality, has appeared in China.
The mobile malware, dubbed Geinimi, which usually poses as gaming applications, has been uploaded onto third-party Chinese Android app markets. If installed, the malware sends personal data.

Full Story at TheRegister
 

Thieves have created a Trojan that poses as a rumoured jailbreak utility for the latest iPhones.
A utility reportedly in development will allow users to run software of their choice on any Apple smartphone, even those running iOS 4.0.2 or iOS 4.1. The greenpois0n utility takes advantage of a security shortcoming in boot rom.
Story at TheRegister

Verizon has unilaterally updated user Storm 2 BlackBerries and other smartphones so that their browser search boxes can only be used with Microsoft Bing.
The move is part of the five-year search and advertising deal Verizon signed with Microsoft in January for a rumored $500 million.
It is not yet clear if Bing can block hackers who target cell phone users who enter personal information such as Bank Account details.
Story is here.