News: Android malware in China uses root access to collect information

Lately Android malwares have been on the rise and Rootsmart application is one of them. This malware is active mainly in China.

It is being said that Rootsmart affects around 10,000 to 30,000 in a single day, this is a really huge number and not tolerable.  This malware is said to run only in Gingerbread devices, it get’s downloaded when you download any legitimate application from any sources other than the Android market. As you download the application, Rootsmart will automatically get downloaded and installed. Once Rootsmart gets installed it downloads GIngerbreak which is used to root your device, and once your device is rebooted it will have root access. This root privileges is used by this application to take your data and information and transfer it to the remote server from where your information can be used for various purposes.

This malware currently has only been reported in China, so all the people outside China are safe for now. If you don’t want these kind of malwares on your phone then you can follow the steps given below:

• Download applications only from trusted sources like Android market, Getjar and Amazon app store
• Do not download applications from untrustworthy third party websites, etc.
• Check the permissions used by these applications while installing them
• Uninstall or refrain from installing these applications as soon as you come to know that they access root or ask for access to personal data