Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a May be the Most Difficult Mobile Trojan to Remove

The Android operating system has yet to see growth within the IT Pro or enterprise community due to its bewildering vulnerability and massive influx of malware targeting the Google mobile platform.

Although Android isn't the favorite choice within enterprise markets, it has, however, seen the light of the day in the consumer market making its dominance known with a 65% to 75% market share in total. You would think enterprises would flock to Android considering how it is driven by Google.

Possibly putting a halt to any mass implementation of Android in the enterprise or a corporate infrastructure, is malware like the latest Android Trojan dubbed by Kasperksy Lab as Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a.

Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a is an Android Trojan known for its ability to perform several different functions such as, but not limited to, remotely performing commands in the console, sending SMS messages to premium-rate numbers, downloading other malware and even installing malware on an infected device just to send it someone else through Bluetooth communication. The Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a Android Trojan is a treacherous threat that disturbingly runs in the background lacking a common interface or front end access.

Perhaps much like common PC Trojan threats, the Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a acts as a liaison for remote attackers where malicious apps get device extended and administrator privileges. In a nutshell, this means the malicious apps cannot be deleted after gaining the extended device administrator privileges after launching.

Researchers so far have found where the compromised data obtained by the Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a threat is comprised of the operator's name, MAC address of the Bluetooth device, the device's phone number, admin privileges status and the user's account balance.

Probably the best news out of Kaspersky's discovery of Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a, is that it is not yet widespread and limited to a less than 1% of all malware-infected devices. Of course, the downside to Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a is that it has many characteristics of Windows PC Trojan threats rather than traditional Android malware that we have reported on in the past.

With the technical information gathered about Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a, we can now conclude that Android malware is well on its way to evolve into a much more complex structure utilizing yet known vulnerability exploits.The rapidly increasing number of Android malware in general does not help the situation as we continue to be on the lookout for more aggressive and complex malware targeting the Android OS. With knowing this, it would be a long-shot for us seeing Android enter into the enterprise or corporate world. We all might as well count Android out for now.