April 12, 2012 at 12:34 PM ET
Android smartphone users and "Angry Birds" fans need to watch out for more than crafty pigs -- there's malware going around that targets Android users by posing as Rovio's hit game "Angry Birds Space,” warns SophosLabs.
The infected version can be found in unofficial app stores and uses an Android Trojan known as Andr/KongFu-L. It contains the GingerBreak exploit to gain root access to the handset and install malicious code.
From there, the Trojan communicates with a remote website and attempts to install even more malware to the device. As Sophos says in its report: "Effectively, your Android phone is now part of a botnet, under the control of malicious hackers."
No fix for infected parties is available at this point. All Android users are asked to use caution when downloading games and software to their devices. If you want "Angry Birds Space," the safest bet is to get it from Google Play, Google's Android app store.
Matthew Hawkins is an NYC-based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of Attract Mode, and co-hosts The Fangamer Podcast. You can keep tabs on him via Twitter, or his personal home-base, FORT90.com.
