Researcher Maps the Android Malware Genome

The popularity of the Android platform, combined with the openness that it represents, has created model that allows developers of all shapes and sizes to create unique works. Yet, this same openness has allowed criminals to create works with malicious intent. Thus, a North Carolina State University researcher has sat out to map the Android Malware Genome in an effort to spread information and combat the malicious side of Android development.

The brainchild of Xuxian Jiang, the Android Malware Genome Project has already collected 1,200 unique examples of Android-based malware. The project itself has a simple mission – it exists to facilitate security research, and ultimately promote stronger defenses to consumers using the platform.

Jang, who is also Director of NQ Mobile’s U.S. Security Research Center, announced the project during the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, held this week in San Francisco.

“Our defense capability is largely constrained by the limited understanding of these emerging mobile malware and the lack of timely access to related samples. Our research community needs to do a better job of sharing data if we want to develop timely, next-generation mobile security solutions,” Jing said.

At this point, the research has shown that at worst, the current anti-Malware solutions for Android are only detecting about 20% of the existing threats. The Android Malware Genome Project seeks to examine the current installation methods, activation mechanisms, and malicious payloads.

As things stand, the initial results show a clear need to develop stronger defenses for the platform overall. Researchers interested in obtaining the current dataset will need to meet certain criteria. The details are posted here. 

The NCSU project closely mirrors a similar effort initiated by Lookout in 2010. The project, dubbed “App Genome Project,” had scanned nearly 100,000 applications at the time of its announcement, but has since grown to analyze more than 500,000 iOS and Android Applications. More information is here.