The latest in smartphone malware is a
sneaky digital beast, one that surreptitiously makes charges to your phone
bill. Toll fraud, as the security experts have dubbed it, disguises itself as a
run-of-the-mill app. Once it gets itself on an Android phone—those caged Apple
devices don't have this problem—the virus employs a fake middle man to signal
to your phone company that a charge has been made... without signaling anything
unusual to you.
There's enough confusion
over phone bills these days as it stands, so you can imagine how something this
complex goes undetected. These types of viruses, like one called FakeInst are
on the rise, as you can see in the chart to the right from mobile security firm
Lookout Mobile. Over the next year, 18 million Android phone users will
encounter this nasty sounding bug, estimates Lookout, according to Brian X.
Chen at the Times's Bits Blog.
Beyond the whole stealing thing, the
scariest part of toll fraud is how many different ways it can do damage, which
makes it difficult for the mobile industry to control it. But there are ways to
protect yourself from it, a Lookout security expert tells Venture Beat's Meghan
Kelly. And guarding yourself can be pretty easy: for starters, check your phone
bill and just don't download things from suspect places.
Sources