Malicious Android Wallpaper App Collects Your Personal Data

Android users who have been regularly downloading apps from the Android Market might want to take note, as mobile security firm Lookout claims that a malicious app has been downloaded from the Android Market by millions of users. The app, developed by Jackeey Wallpaper, seems fairly innocent, and offers a variety of wallpapers for the user, but aside from that, it also quietly collects information such as SIM card numbers, text messages, subscriber identification, and voicemail passwords, all of which is sent to www.imnet.us, a site that is linked to Shenzhen, China. The app’s behavior was discovered as part of Lookout’s App Genome Project, which aims to study content on Android and iPhone apps. Hopefully Google will take note of this and maybe take some steps to resolve the issue and prevent similar incidents in the future.

Matthew Chung
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, android apps, Google