Beware: New Malware Found That Bypasses Google Play security

Android smartphone owners might have some worries regarding the security of their handset. Today, another type of malware threat had just been discover where it can bypass Google Play’s security measure, where this malware will “root” the Android smartphone without the user actually doing it. This new “auto-rooting” malware was named LevelDropper.

This latest malware will secretly root the smartphone, and after rooting, it will then install many apps in the smartphone until the memory reach its max. The makers on this new malware, simply aims to have a more revenue by installing many apps on the infected smartphone.

According to Colin Streicher of Lookout’s Research and Response team, “LevelDropper, an app in the Google Play store that we determined to be malicious, is the latest example of a new and persisting trend in mobile threats: auto-rooting malware.”

Also, Streicher added that once installed, LevelDropper will secretly roots the Android smartphone or tablets. Then the attackers will remotely installs many apps in the Android device.

Also, he said that "Immediately after running LevelDropper, we noticed that the LocationServices window popped up blank. This is a significant red flag."

"Shortly after, new applications not previously installed on the phone began to appear. The app never prompted the user to install the additional apps, which generally indicates that the application must have root access."

According to Lookout Research Team, no exact version of Android had been affected by this new malware, but they tested it on an Android 4.4 KitKat. Just about 30 minutes, LevelDropper was completely on the Android device, and they found out that 14 new applications had been installed during the attack without any user interaction.

Lookout and Google are working together now in eliminating this malware on their Operating System as soon as possible.

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