New Android Spyware Uploads Photos, Logs and Messages Every 20 Minutes

Following reports earlier this week of multiple variants of Hong Tou Tou, two additional spyware programs targeting Android devices have been reported by NetQin Mobile this week.

Dubbed “SW.SecurePhone“, when installed, will run in secretly in the background and monitor the phone and collect data to save on the SD card. The data, including messages, call log, location of the phone, recorded sounds around the phone and pictures in the phone, will then be uploaded to a remote server every 20 minutes. While the threats reported earlier this week were mainly surfacing in China, NetQin reports that this spyware is mainly spreading in the U.S via Internet download.

“SW.Qieting“, when installed, and also running secretly in the background, the mobile malware automatically forwards messages received to a monitoring phone. While Apple has been criticized because of its “closed” platform for the iPhone, the “openness” of Android has resulted in additional security threats to users, with unverified applications and alternative app marketplaces further exposing smartphone users to the growing number of mobile threats.

With PCs no longer being the dominant form of computing, and threats targeting the smartphone and tablet markets topping the list of cyber concerns in 2011 according to several recent reports. Respondents to a 2010 Mobile & Smart Device Security Survey recognize the quickly growing world of connected smart devices and acknowledge that device security problems are not only inevitable, but serious.