WSJ on malicious apps targeting cell phone users

[mike123abc]

Yes it is a subscription site: Dark Side Arises for Phone Apps - WSJ.com

The article is unlocked at the moment for free reading.

Interesting snippits:

In one incident, Google pulled dozens of unauthorized mobile-banking apps from its Android Market in December. The apps, priced at $1.50, were made by a developer named "09Droid" and claimed to offer access to accounts at many of the world's banks. Google said it pulled the apps because they violated its trademark policy.

Unlike Apple or BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., Google doesn't have employees dedicated to vetting applications submitted to its Android store. Google said it removes apps that violate its policies, but largely relies on users to alert it to bad software. "We check reactively," said a Google spokesman. "There is no manual bottleneck."

The FBI's Cyber Division recently began working on a number of cases based on tips about malicious programs in app stores, Mr. Snow said. The cases involve apps designed to compromise banking on cellphones, as well as mobile "malware" used for espionage by foreign nations, said a person familiar with the matter. To protect its own operations, the FBI bars its employees from downloading apps on FBI-issued smartphones.

In July 2008, Apple pulled a popular game called Aurora Feint from its store after it was discovered to be uploading users' contact lists to the game maker's servers. More recently, it yanked hundreds of apps it said violated its policies, some out of security concerns.

It looks like a new hot bed of international hacking attacking the app stores.