FL Prof: Malware Pairs Deliver One-Two Punch to Android Phones

LAKELAND -- Watch out if your mobile device is an Android! Scientists are working to stop malware apps that work as a tag team to hack your phone.

Instead of one bad app, Dr. Karim Elish at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland says hackers are making pairs of apps that seem benign... unless you download both of them.

"Each one will look benign or innocent, but when they communicate with each other, they can perform or achieve a malicious activity," Elish said.

Elish says cybersecurity experts have been analyzing source code and are looking for a way to screen apps before they're uploaded to the Google Play Store. They've got their work cut out for them. Google Play has more than 2.7 million apps.

Because it's not an open system like Android, Elish says this sort of malware is less likely to be found in Apple devices... but the possibility can't be eliminated.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Elish below or at the link.

Photo Credit: Getty Images


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