DroidDream virus hits 50+ apps on Android Marketplace

Following on from earlier problems, it seems that Android has been hit by another security issue. There are new reports of over 50 Android Marketplace applications containing malicious code. Although the apps have now been removed, over 200,000 people downloaded them. They were copies of already popular programs, such as games that had been repackaged to include the new code.

The suspect apps were discovered by Reddit user Lompolo who, after some investigation, found that the authors didn't match. He looked at a game which allowed users to play guitar on their handsets, and noticed that although the new version retained the same functionality of the original, it contained the virus code hidden within the application. Lompolo originally found 21 apps, but he was soon surpassed by Android Police who, after an in depth investigation, found a total of over 50.

Once a virus, named DroidDream, containing application is installed, the users sensitive data and IMEI is sent a remote server. The code also allows the author to install or remove anything from the target device. Google has yet to issue a formal statement but they claimed to have deleted three developer accounts used by the creator of the apps.

Google has a tool that can recall and uninstall rogue applications all Android devices, however there are no reports of the California company doing so.

"...this remote kill switch will not remove any other code that may have been dropped onto the device as a result of the initial infection," reported Trend Micro Senior Security Advisor Rik Ferguson. He went on to advise people not to remove the applications but to instead get consider getting a new handset or reinstalling the operating system.

A full list of the trojanised apps, published by Myournet, is: