
Instagram Fakes Spreading Malware on Android Devices - iProject
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/04/19/fake-instagram-apps-are-spreading-malware-on-android-devices/
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eljaco
I read the current title as Instagram faking a malware spread, not that there
are Instagram-lookalikes spreading malware.

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Flam
Yes me too. This title is intentionally misleading.

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bradleyland
I always try to avoid being cynical, but in this case, It's hard to argue
otherwise:

Page title <title>: Instagram Fakes Spreading Malware on Android Devices

Post title <h1>: Fake Instagram apps are spreading malware on Android devices

In the page title, "fakes" is ambiguous. Is it a noun or a verb? The page
title shows up in search results and RSS feeds, thus the ambiguity is present
in a place where the verb interpretation would raise more eyebrows.

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guard-of-terra
Haha. That man on the embedded picture is The Witness.
[http://lurkmore.to/%D0%A1%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B...](http://lurkmore.to/%D0%A1%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C)
It's an internet meme and it looks like malware authors left it there on
purpose for malware researchers' amusement.

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geoffw8
I downloaded a N64 emulator a week or two ago, and the spam on my phone has
been relentless. I'm literally getting a dozen notifications a day and more
worryingly its actually installing apps, "Offer of the day!" and such.

I didn't mind it for a day or two if I'm honest, was happy to have the
emulator. But now its just plain annoying.

Was going to look into reformatting my phone. Samsung Nexus ICE. Its a shame
really, you'd hope for a level of protection.

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huggyface
Your device is rooted, I presume? That is the only way an app could install
other apps.

Honestly in this case you have no one to blame but yourself. Root your phone
and all bets are off.

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eigenvector
Root your phone and grant superuser permissions to untrusted apps, and yes,
all bets are off. Most root user ROMs won't, by default, grant root access to
apps unless you manually white-list them.

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StCroix
This is definitely fodder for the "walled garden" proponents to justify closed
and heavily vetted architectures. It feels like the old WWW-Wild west days but
this time with bigger brothers smugly looking down with the "tut, tut, tut"
expression on their faces.

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jimmyvanhalen
The average user doesn't care if their phone is "open" or not.

Having a walled garden is beneficial to 99% of the users.

"open" mobile devices (even though they really aren't that open) benefits some
developers and users.

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icebraining
I disagree; I think that perspective is shortsighted because it only looks at
the direct benefits.

Think of how much users have been benefiting from new and innovative webapps,
which are a result of the competition between browsers. Now imagine where we
would be if Windows was a walled garden and didn't allow competing
applications, like Apple does with iOS.

Openness breeds competition. Competition is always good for the user.

~~~
jimmyvanhalen
The app store is a walled garden. the web (Safari) is not.

You get the best of both worlds with iOS without the pain of fragmentation and
virus/malware/spyware/etc.

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icebraining
The browser is an extremely important part of the web. For now, Safari for iOS
is up-to-date with the rest of the browsers, but what if it starts lagging
behind? Either the users are stuck not being able to use fully certain
websites, or the web gets stuck like it still is with IE.

I'm not saying walled gardens don't have advantages to the users - a garden
with a good landscaper is probably better for the common user, no doubt. But
to say that openness only benefits devs and a small number of users is
shortsighted. It's a balancing act.

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jimmyvanhalen
key phrase: "what if"

also: iOS is open enough for 99% of the smart phone users.

I don't hear my mom complaining "oh how I wish i can install a custom boot ROM
on this iPhone".

