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Cloned Android Apps: Symbiosis or Parasitic?

SmsMyCustomers FSecure — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:01:42 +0000

There was a recent report of a malicious Android package installation being hosted on a fake “Android Market”-lookalike site, which was pushed to users from an advertisement link. The distribution strategy itself is not new. We saw variations of this happening with Google advertisements 2 years back, though in that case it was rogue or scareware that was being pushed by the advertisements. What is interesting about the case is: Android application repackaging. We’ve seen this tactic being used quite frequently in the last few months, as it seems to be the favored “quick” way for malware authors to produce new Android malware. What’s also interesting is that this seems to be a popular way for developers to produce “new”, clean applications. We’ve been seeing a rash of repackaged applications posted on the official Android Market. (Android apps are written in Java, and so they have a very low threshold for cloning, there are no real barriers to reverse engineer them.) One example we saw recently is shown below, with the original app on the left and the repackaged app on the right: The repackaged application has the same modules as the original, but includes an advertisement module. In some cases, there were no technical changes from the original application at all — just a change in the app name, of course. Most of the repackaged apps we’ve seen are “clean” in that they don’t have any malicious code included in them. So far, we also haven’t seen any instances of the repackaged apps being distributed as paid apps. Presumably, the point of the repackaging is to include the advertisement module, with the developers gaining some kind of monetary reward when users view or click through the ads being displayed. However, since the repackaging was most likely done without the consent of the original developer(s), the repackaged app would probably be considered pirated, or at least intellectual property theft to the original developer. This is still something of a grey area though, especially as Google doesn’t actively vet every application posted on the Android Market. Whether most developers — and users — are going to consider these repackaged apps as just another side-effect of an “open market” philosophy, or conversely as rip-offs of a developer’s honest efforts, is anybody’s guess. Threat Insight post by — Raulf On 27/06/11 At 08:22 AM

Burger King Trialling Mobile Commerce

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:38:35 +0000

Burger King is trialling mobile commerce by allowing customer to order and pay with their iPhone. Burger King joined with Gomobo and PointAbout for the development and design phase of the application. Burger King NOW location-aware iPhones are being tested in the Queens, New York, area.“The idea of the iPhone app is to go the full nine yards with a rich mobile ordering platform,” commented Noah N. Glass, founder CEO of Gomobo, New York. “This is the first case study that we have done with an iPhone application and we expect to launch this type of application for other quick-serve restaurants we are working with.”

The GPS functionality of the iPhone allows users to bypass the step of entering an address in to the application. it achieves this by automatically finding the Burger King location closest to user.

Customers save valuable time when placing their order and in particular when they pick it up. They can bypass the queue and just take their food because they have already paid for it using the application on their iPhone.

The application tracks and saves the users order history and also acts as a loyalty card offering by giving the user special deals and incentives.

Fronde Anywhere – txtBUS

admin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:08:45 +0000

Waiting in the wind has become a thing of the past for Wellington bus users.Greater Wellington Regional Council has introduced an innovative text messaging service called txtBUS, allowing bus users to use texts to find out when the next bus is scheduled to arrive.

The potential is obvious. Commuters save time and money with the txtBUS service, especially those who do not have a timetable at their bus stop. Based on existing timetables, the text service advises users to arrive several minutes earlier so that there is no chance of missing the bus.

txtBUS works for you:

Users text ‘bus’ on their mobiles.
Send the four digit bus stop number.

txtBUS can also supply the following three services for your route, which is particularly useful for stops used by other buses. It’s easy! You simply send the four digit bus stop number with a space or a comma and then the route and you’re in business.

A confirmation of the location of your bus stop and the approximate times of the next three buses due arrives within seconds. The system will not inform users if a service is running early or late.