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captainlego | 8 years ago

But, unless I somehow missed a big point, doesn't it start with the user installing a malicious package?

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fulafel|8 years ago

Not knowingly. Sounds like there is a phony app as a phishing style infection vector:

"The malware masquerades as a legitimate or popular app that uses the names App, MMS, whatsapp, and even Pokemon GO. When the app is launched, it base64-decodes a string from the resource file and writes it down, which is actually the malicious Android Application Package (APK)."

The user has a legitimate expectation that the app sandbox containment provided by the OS works and nothing bad should happen if s/he tries out the aforementioned apps.

This type of malware are commonly called backdoors, see eg. http://www.virusradar.com/en/glossary/backdoor

dahart|8 years ago

That link says right at the top, "The difference between this type of malware and a legitimate application with similar functionality is that the installation is done without the user’s knowledge."

I agree with @debatem1, this is not what "backdoor" commonly means, phishing does not count as "without the user's knowledge". Phishing is a trick to get in the front door.