Some versions of Angry Birds Space are infected with a malicious software that allows hackers to control the Android devices, despite the fact that the game is playable without any problems.
The news that some versions of the world-famous Android game is infected was brought by Daily Mail, but it was the security software developer Sophos who sounded the alarm.
As Sophos’ Graham Cluley stated on the Naked Security blog, “Android malware authors have seized an opportunity to infect unsuspecting smartphone users with the launch of the latest addition to the immensely popular Angry Birds series of games. […] SophosLabs recently encountered malware-infected editions of the “Angry Birds Space” game which have been placed in unofficial Android app stores. […] Effectively, one’s Android smartphone is now a part of a botnet, which is under control of hackers. […] It feels like we have to keep reminding Android users to be on their guard against malware risks and to be very careful when downloading applications from unauthorized Android markets.”
Angry Birds Space has been downloaded more than 700 million times, so the hackers could not have chosen a better target for their attack. Andr/KongFu-L , the Trojan horse found by Sophos in the infected versions of the game grants full control over the Android devices, which needless to say, is a thing that no one wants. First of all, the hackers are able this way to obtain sensitive data such as bank account details. Secondly, the hackers could deploy a mass cyber attack against certain websites by using the infected Android devices.
Once the infected game is downloaded from one of the many unofficial Android app stores, Andr/KongFu-L starts downloading additional malware from a remote web site. After obtaining root access to the device, the Trojan proceeds to installing other infected apps that are capable of stealing Facebook or Twitter logins, along with other such sensitive data.
Some of the things that Android users should keep in mind in order to prevent infections with such malicious software are to always download the apps from Google Play and to use an Android malware removal tool. Such tools are even available as freeware, so additional security does not always have to imply additional costs. In addition, it is important to remember that fully functional Android apps are not necessarily malware-free, as proved in this case.
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