Hasta La Gadget!

A new Trojan horse aimed at Android devices has recently surfaced in China.

Named “Geinimi,” San Francisco firm Lookout Mobile Security says the Trojan is “the most sophisticated Android malware [the firm has] seen to date.”

“Geinimi is effectively being ‘grafted’ onto repackaged versions of legitimate applications,” most of which have been games, the firm says. The apps are then sold in Chinese third-party Android app markets. Affected apps will request permissions “over and above”  those requested by the legitimate version of an app.

“Users should make sure that the program is asking for permissions appropriate to the app,” a spokesperson from Lookout told Wired. “If the program is asking for your IMEI or your location, and it has nothing to do with the app’s function, that’s a big red flag.”

IMEI is short for International Mobile Equipment Identity, the internationally-used, unique identity number used by many phones.

Lookout hasn’t yet established an intent for Geinimi, though the firm claims the Trojan is “the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities.” The firm claims that it’s “botnet-like” because it hasn’t yet seen the command server communicate back to affected devices, a Lookout spokesperson told Wired.

The firm has evidence that Geinimi is being distributed only through third-party Chinese app markets. Lookout hasn’t seen any Geinimi-compromised apps in the official Google Android marketplace.

Lookout released an update to its own Android antivirus app, which it says will protect users against Geinimi.

Photo: alachia/Flickr

Android owners–be afraid. A new botnet-lke bit of malware for Google’s open mobile OS has been discovered in China–and it ain’t pretty. The Trojan, named “Geinimi,” has been called “the most sophisticated Android malware we’ve seen to date” by security firm Lookup.

According to the firm, Geinimi can “receive commands from a remote server that allow the owner of that server to control the phone.” The malicious little bit of software sneaks onto phones by being “grafted” on to games and other non-malicious mobile apps.

“The affected applications request extensive permissions over and above the set that is requested by their legitimate original versions,” says Lookup. “Though the intent of this Trojan isn’t entirely clear, the possibilities for intent range from a malicious ad-network to an attempt to create an Android botnet.”

Lookup recommends that users download from trusted app stores, check permission requests on apps, monitor suspicious activity on their handsets, and download a mobile security app to help avoid the wrath of Geinimi.

Oh Android, is there any device you won’t grace for the cheap thrill of adding to your army of followers? Creative’s Zen Touch 2 served up most of its specs a couple of months back, including a resistive touchscreen and the use of Android 2.1 as its OS, but today it’s formalized its US intentions with a bit of FCC certification action. The 3.2-inch PMP’s 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 wireless transceivers all checked out okay, though the exhaustive teardown also revealed a “vibrator” module and an 1150mAh battery contained within its plasticky walls. Another note of import was that two variants, one equipped with GPS and one without, were offered to the FCC, in line with the company segmenting the Zen Touch 2 into “standard” and “enhanced” editions. If you’re in the UK, you can have one of these music players shipped to you tomorrow, but the US online store only lists it by name and doesn’t yet have a full page for it. Shouldn’t be long now.

Continue reading Creative Zen Touch 2 passes FCC, adds yet another new button arrangement to Android world

Creative Zen Touch 2 passes FCC, adds yet another new button arrangement to Android world originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, CES 2011 will be graced by the presence of Samsung’s new 4-inch Galaxy Player, but our pockets, it would seem, might have to wait for it quite a bit longer. The Wall Street Journal today reports that, while Samsung intends to roll out the new Android PMP in its home market of Korea shortly after CES next week, the rest of the world is unlikely to be able to buy it until “the April to June period.” Aside from its lack of phone functionality and a Super AMOLED panel, the new Galaxy Player is an almost identical replica of the company’s wildly successful Galaxy S smartphone, which apparently has been no accident. The WSJ also lets us in on the knowledge that Samsung’s phone division has taken over responsibility for building and selling its portable media player range, hence why we’re now seeing such major overlaps between the two categories — something that might very well continue into the future.

Samsung’s phone division now also in charge of PMPs, Galaxy Player coming in Q2 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Once again, here’s proof that China is the place to be for piping-hot gadget leaks. The latest delivery is yet another mysterious Sony Ericsson handset, which is allegedly the Android 2.3 successor to the much loved X10 Mini Pro slider but with an X8 screen size. Despite its modest dimensions, this little gem packs a 1GHz chip with an Adreno 205 GPU, scoring an impressive 1,553 on the Quadrant benchmark app — coming close to the Nexus S’ score — and 42.5fps on Neocore, as pictured on the 3-inch 320 x 480 multitouch LCD above. It sure sounds juicy, except for one thing: the buttons are in reverse order of the current Xperia layout. Very funny, Sony Ericsson, now just give us a date. One more shot after the break.

Continue reading Another Sony Ericsson Android leaked in China, successor to the X10 Mini Pro?

Another Sony Ericsson Android leaked in China, successor to the X10 Mini Pro? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unofficial Xperia X10 Blog  |  IT168  | Email this | Comments