Trojans are slowly becoming serious threat to Android ecosystem

Trojans have been around for a long time and are not unique to Android. We are seeing more reports related to Android, however, Trojans are becoming a serious threat to Android users.

This particular article is inspired by a recent report on the Android Banking Trojan. Those Trojans infected almost a dozen Android apps and were able to reach more than 300,000 users.

When it comes to this report and many others we’ve seen this year, it’s worrying that those apps are finding their way into the Google Play Store. Google’s own app store should be very secure and this is normal, but there is always a way to overcome malware cracks. Third-party app stores are usually easy targets.

Trojans and Android ecosystem

These banking Trojans have done it smart, but we hope Google finds a way to prevent this from happening in the future, at least to some extent. These Trojans use loaders to go through security fences. Loaders are small pieces of malware hidden inside apps. They are generally unaware of Google’s security and this applies to other platforms as well. Clearly, Apple’s Appstore is not immune to such problems.

Most of these Trojans do not work at first, but after many upgrades they become malicious. Those who put them in apps release updates to add bits and pieces of malicious software.

In this way, in some cases, as demonstrated by these banking Trojans, it is possible to escape Google’s protection. We have seen over 300,000 infected Trojans this year and this is a cause for concern.

The pleasure of using a smartphone is definitely installing apps because each app basically gives you another new function. You can play it safe and stick to well-known apps from big companies, but you should not be limited to that.

If you find it very interesting to install a lot of obscure apps in the Play Store you can stay safe. There are many great apps that you have never heard of and they provide functionality that no other app has.

It would be ideal if Google could completely prevent this from happening, but we know it’s not possible. So we can expect this to continue to be an outstanding performance. When hundreds of thousands of devices find their way before such apps are removed, that’s the problem.

It is important to note that the malware is usually hidden in image editing apps, PDF scanners, QR code scanners, and some similar apps. People need it from time to time and usually install it in a hurry without thinking twice about it.

Let’s hope that the problem will be reduced in the future due to Android Trojans. We all know that Google does everything possible to prevent this from happening, but you also have to play your part. You need to test a little closer before you install the app and most importantly, be very careful about what kind of permissions you give to the app.

Remember before you give different permissions to apps

If the PDF scanning app needs permission to send SMS messages, make calls, etc., you know that something went wrong. This is just an example. The problem is that most people give everything they want without thinking.

Needless to say, this is not the right way to go. Those permissions are in effect for a reason. I can not emphasize this enough, do not allow unnecessary things, in other words, be careful of what you allow. This is the last line of your defense, and it can be very effective.