BEIJING, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- NetQin Mobile Inc. ("NetQin" or "the Company") (NYSE: NQ), a leading provider of consumer-centric mobile security and productivity applications, has identified a new malware disguised as popular mobile games on Android devices, namely: Mole Attack, Jawbreaker and Five Chess Game. The malware will subscribe to the paid services without user's consent thus resulting in fraudulent charges to users. According to the statistics from NetQin Cloud Security Center, the malware thus far have only infected users in China.
The malware, named MSO.Anim, is mainly distributed through application downloading networks. All three variants have almost identical characteristics: once installed on the mobile device, it will determine which network is used and whether the device is connected to internet. Then the malware will attempt to connect to the internet in the background. Once connectivity is established, it will access the designated WAP page to obtain commands for access fee incurring services. With the commands, the malware will send messages without the user's consent to subscribe to fee incurring service provider services, such as SMS plan or MMS plan. Subscription confirmation messages from the service provider will be deleted in the background. Furthermore the virus also has the ability to block messages from the carrier to prevent the user from getting fee consumption updates. The infection of the MSO.Anim will result in financial losses to the user.
Earlier in March of this year, the malware DroidDream resulted in Google removing more than 50 rogue apps from Android Market. The discovery of BaseBridge last week, which has also infected over 20 Android applications, predominantly mobile games, has highlighted the vulnerability of mobile games and the open nature of the Android platform. Virus developers are now targeting this growing open platform both in China and rest of the world.
NetQin has updated its virus database to include the definitions of the malware so that it can protect its users from the attack. Meanwhile, mobile users should follow to the following tips for when using a smart-phone:
Headquartered in Beijing China, NetQin Mobile Inc. is a leading provider of consumer-centric mobile Internet services focusing on security and productivity. NetQin was one of the first companies to recognize the growing security threats targeting smartphone users and is now a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, serving both greater China and global clients. The company focuses on serving clients in three key sectors: 1) mobile security, providing mobile security services to protect users from mobile malware threats, data theft, and privacy intrusion; 2) mobile productivity, providing mobile productivity services designed to intelligently enhance time and relationship management; 3) personalized intelligent cloud services, providing personalized intelligent cloud services such as "NQ Space", which is accessible through a variety of Internet-enabled devices to provide a tailored user experience.
For more information, please visit http://www.netqin.com/en
