Sounds sensational, but it's not that different from the spam drug affiliates scheme.
SMS malware is a topic old as coal on the darknet, there is even a tutorial on the hidden wiki; what I'm curious about is where those apps are distributed, AFAIK google play deals with it (at least the obvious sms ones) pretty well. From what I hear people complaining often on HN, in the US carriers are tied with Google. Meanwhile here in Poland I rarely see a phone that has google apps out of the box (usually there is some crapware from the carrier, a shitty nav app instead of gmaps, and maybe a youtube app and that's it) and external appstores are unlocked by default - I can assume it's a similar situation in Russia and those malicious apps are distributed through some local app stores. Can somebody from Russia comment on that?
>I can assume it's a similar situation in Russia and those malicious apps are distributed through some local app stores. Can somebody from Russia comment on that?
It's usually harmless, 'cheaper-feeling' versions of popular applications. The malware that's being downloaded here is closer to getting a user to download a game that's similar to something popular -- think 'Minecraft Tips and Tricks App'
Yeah, but where are they distributed - some Russian app stores or international ones? If local, then people are not aware Russia and Ukraine are cracker/malware superpowers? :)
App store, via being led through affiliate links to the data source, or via exploits in default software. You can peddle malware through the official play store for a while until you get caught -- at which point, you rename the application, register a new dev account, and keep going.
I don't know where the servers are physically located, nor does it matter.
I think there aren't any big Russian app stores (Yandex Store comes to mind but it's not big yet).
I've seen numerous reports of Google Play apps being served with malware / showing malware-triggering ads. So it's cat and mouse even with international stores.
Yeah, sadly. But at least Google has the resources to learn on false negatives. There have been a few malware scandals, but they are usually cut off short in bulk just after exposed. I doubt smaller stores are able to perform that well in this area, not to mention that those Russian ones probably are the scammers themselves as the phones have non-google app stores unlocked and it only takes a spammy redirect.
All that said, as you mentioned in the other comment - the root of the problem are cell companies, if not for them, the premium sms problem wouldn't exist.
"The report found the bulk of this Russian malware wasn't coming from lone individuals in basements, but well-oiled malware producing machines."