Scam versions of Angry Birds have been flooding the Android application market, prompting UF to warn students about the potential danger.
UF’s Office of Information Security and Compliance issued a warning Feb. 14 to let students know that fake apps could steal banking, shopping and contact information from the user’s phone.
The fake apps have the same name as Angry Birds and are released under the name “Rovio Mobile Ltd.”
Zeljka Zorz, managing editor of Help Net Security, an information security website, said a constant stream of pop-up advertisements give away scam apps.
In an article Zorz wrote for Help Net Security, she stated the scam company used a capital “I” instead of a lowercase “l” in the word “Mobile” to register in the Android market with what appears to be the same name as the Angry Birds creators.
“Fake applications usually have one primary goal: make money for attackers,” she said.
Fake applications are especially prevalent in China and Russia, she said.
She thinks the fake applications entered the Android Market in late 2010.
People are using their smartphones instead of laptops for banking and shopping, said Derrius Marlin, an information security engineer at the UF Office of Information Security and Compliance. He said spyware can find out where you go, who you talk to the most and your bank account information.
Apple apps are reviewed and tested to ensure they are safe, but Android apps aren’t reviewed and take less time to get on the market, he said.
“People should install apps they need and use,” Marlin said. “People should reduce their footprint and decrease vulnerability.”
Keeping apps updated will help them resist new viruses, he said.
“If you never update your computer, you are open to viruses, and it is the same thing on your phone,” Marlin said. “If you do update your phone, you decrease your vulnerability.”
When computers started to hold more personal information, programmers made software to steal email addresses, passwords and personal documents from the devices, he said. The same thing is happening with smartphones now.
“Any time you have a target-rich environment, you are going to have malicious activity,” Marlin said.
