Android rootkits – malware on your smartphone

Many of you are probably familiar with the concept of rootkits – malicious software that lurks hidden at a low-level on your Windows or Unix computer, remaining undetected by conventional anti-virus software.

Although new rootkits can be prevented from infecting your computer, if you had any rootkits before you installed your anti-virus, they may never be revealed. This threat really began to capture the headlines a couple of years ago, and as a result security vendors like Sophos provided free anti-rootkit software for Windows users to check and clean-up their systems.

But rootkits aren’t just limited to conventional desktop operating systems.

Earlier this year we saw two scientists from Rutgers University discuss the possibility of smartphone rootkits, and now – according to…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.