Pre-infected smartphones

Some Android mobile phones are being sold pre-infected with malware.

According to a blog post by Lookout's Jeremy Linden, "DeathRing is a Chinese Trojan that is pre-installed on a number of smartphones most popular in Asian and African countries."

Some of the most important points from his report include:

• Detections are moderate in volume.
• Detections are global.
• The Trojan pretends to be a ringtone app.
• The Trojan downloads SMS and WAP content.
• The downloaded content can be used to trick users.
• Most of the affected devices are counterfeit or uncommon models (in the West).
• Anti-malware software cannot remove it.

The main lesson to learn here is to buy non-counterfeit devices from reputable sources. You might also consider installing an anti-malware product to alert you to problems. And watch for unexpected charges on your mobile phone bill.

[Image: Sad Android by Justin Marden]