Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/02/28/french_android_malware_arrests/
Cops cuff premium-rate SMS Android malware suspects
French plod nab duo after 100k euros slurped
Posted in Security, 28th February 2012 16:02 GMT
French police have arrested two men over an Android malware scam that netted an estimated €100,000, according to L'Informaticien.
The unnamed duo are suspected of infecting more than 2,000 Android smartphones with the Foncy Trojan, a strain of malware that sent text messages to premium-rate numbers at a cost of €4.5 a pop. The malicious code appeared in various guises, most recently as a fake EA Sports Madden NFL 2012 game, net security firm Sophos reports.
The malware was unusually sophisticated. Foncy exploited a vulnerability to root the phone before surreptitiously spewing SMSes. Infected phones also silently polled an IRC channel to obtain instructions from hackers. ®