Installing malware on your smartphone devices is something no one wants to do, but it does happen, especially for Android owners. A new Android malware has been uncovered that not only affects your Android device, but it’s also capable of targeting a user’s PC in order to spy on them.
The Android malware is called “DroidCleaner” and poses as an application to help free your Android device’s memory by “cleaning” the device. Researchers at security firm Kaspersky Lab discovered the application and say the malware infects the user’s device and can even infect their computer if they plug the infected device into it.
Infected computers can then have the microphone tapped as the software can begin to record audio once the microphone detects any sort of sound. The recorded audio can then be sent back to the creators of the malware.
Fortunately, if your device is infected by the malware and plug it into a computer with the latest version of Windows, the function to automatically install itself onto your PC won’t work as the setting needed by the malware has been disabled. But if you haven’t updated your Windows machine, then you might want to be careful of what you say near your microphone.