Angry bird’s malware

A new malware on the prowl attacks Google phones disguised as angry birds. It has been named “Plankton”. The malware was discovered by an assistant professor in computer science of North Carolina State University, Xuxian Jiang. The malware enters systems through the Angry Birds game. It operates secretly in the background and corrupts the system. Its secrecy has made it very difficult to identify and eliminate, although it has been in existence for the past two months, according to Xuxian Jiang.How did the malware come into being?

Plankton was designed as a cheat while playing Angry Birds game, which is a very popular game on Google Marketplace. The pseudo Angry Birds apps have become the channel of distribution of this malware among users. The malware is a sophisticated design that attacks command and control files. On reaching these system files, the malware begins to add its own contents. Contents are introduced into the phone secretly and the source is very difficult to spot.

What does Plankton do?

Plankton has been designed to do many things in addition to uploading its own content. The malware has a unique working pattern. According to the discoverer Xuxian Jiang, the malware calls on its own files for execution instead of depending on the program files of the device. It uses a server that is hacker controlled and uploads bugs into the device. Once Plankton is installed in the phone, it has complete access to all the data stored in it including all the financial transaction history that you might have made through the phone. It can also access your message box, contacts and browser.

Google pulls out apps

In response to the complaint filed by Xuxian Jiang, Google has pulled out all the apps related to Angry Birds game. Interestingly, Google has found that all the ten apps that it pulled out are mere channels of delivery for Plankton and did not do much for the game. Angry Birds is a game that is manufactured by Rovigo, a company in Finland.

How was the malware found?

Xuxian Jiang found the malware while he was researching another malware called “Trojan Horse”. This malware created havoc to the mobile bill by sending out thousands of fake messages from the user’s message box. Google had faced this sort of a problem before and has had to pull out apps. The device is prone to more damage when apps that do not belong to Android apps are downloaded.