Trojan Malware Targeting Android Smartphones Identified In China

Security researchers have spotted a botnet-like Trojan virus targeted towards Google's Android operating system in China.

According to security firm Lookout Security, the virus, dubbed as 'Geinimi', is capable of infecting a significant amount of smartphones running the Android operating system.

The company warned that the virus can compromise the data on an infected mobile device and send it to remote servers.

Lookout said that the sophisticated Android virus was the first virus targeted towards the operating system which displayed botnet-like capabilities.

“Geinimi is effectively being “grafted” onto repackaged versions of legitimate applications, primarily games, and distributed in third-party Chinese Android app markets. The affected applications request extensive permissions over and above the set that is requested by their legitimate original versions,” the company explained in a blog post.

The company said that it had updated its mobile anti-virus software to ward off the threat poised by the new virus.