[ISN] Android wallpaper app that steals your data was downloaded by millions

[InfoSec News]

http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/07/28/android-wallpaper-app-that-steals-your-data-was-downloaded-by-millions/

By Dean Takahashi
Mobile Beat
July 28, 2010 

A questionable Android mobile wallpaper app that collects your personal 
data and sends it to a mysterious site in China, has been downloaded 
millions of times, according to data unearthed by mobile security firm 
Lookout.

That means that apps that seem good but are really stealing your 
personal information are a big risk at a time when mobile apps are 
exploding on smartphones, said John Hering, chief executive, and Kevin 
MaHaffey, chief technology officer at Lookout, in their talk at the 
Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas today.

“Even good apps can be modified to turn bad after a lot of people 
download it,” MaHaffey said. “Users absolutely have to pay attention to 
what they download. And developers have to be responsible about the data 
that they collect and how they use it.”

The app in question came from Jackeey Wallpaper, and it was uploaded to 
the Android Market, where users can download it and use it to decorate 
their phones that run the Google Android operating system. It includes 
branded wallpapers from My Little Pony and Star Wars, to name just a 
couple.

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