Android malware masquerading as legitimate AV apps

If you’re an Android user, you probably couldn’t help but notice the hundreds of articles about the proliferation of malware created specifically for that platform. Maybe you have already considered downloading an antivirus solution for your device.

If you did, and decided in favor of it, please download it from Google Play or other legitimate online app markets, as the probability that it will be a malicious app posing as a legitimate AV one is way less than if you go and search for one on the open Internet.

This advise goes doubly for Chinese and Russian users, since there are many third party app stores teeming with malware.

Take this recently discovered one by GFI’s researchers for example:

It ostensibly offers two dozens or so legitimate AV apps from a variety of well-established security companies, but unfortunately all the files are of the same size (186.4kb) and the same nature: they belong to the Boxer family of premium rate SMS senders.