Trojan adware on Android can give itself root access
by from Techreport on (#SNS8)
Android has taken quite a beating lately on the security front. In part, that's due to a perfect storm consisting of a large user base, slow software and security updates, and the ability to sideload untrusted apps that could potentially steal data or crash the phone. Against that backdrop, antivirus maker Lookout has posted a warning about a wave of novel malware with a nasty side effect: giving itself root privileges.
The attack vector is pretty straightforward. An attacker downloads a popular app like Facebook or WhatsApp from the Google Play store and then injects it with one or more root exploits. The trojan ...