Apple and Google removed an app from
their app stores after it was revealed to be harvesting users' phone contacts
as spam targets.
The Find and Call app was originally
thought to be an SMS worm but later discovered to be a Trojan, according to Kaspersky Lab. The Russian software security firm
said it alerted by Apple and Google to the presence of the malware in their
stores, leading to the app's removal.
Apple confirmed it removed the app
for violating App Store rules.
"The Find & Call app has
been removed from the App Store due to its unauthorized use of users' Address
Book data, a violation of App Store guidelines," Apple spokesperson Trudy
Muller told CNET.
CNET has also contacted Google for
comment and will update this report when we learn more.
The app required users to register
their e-mail address and phone number and then would offer to find friends from
users' phone book. The phone book data would then be captured and transmitted
to a remote server, Kaspersky said.
The malware would then spam the
user's contacts with text messages that appeared to come from the original user
and including links to download the malware.
"The 'from' field contains the
user's cellphone number," the report says. "In other words, people
will receive an SMS spam message from a trusted source."
Both the iOS and Android versions also uploaded users' GPS
coordinates to the remote server. The app also allowed users to enter
information for social networks, e-mail, and even PayPal.
The app's author told Russian blog AppleInsider.ru that the app was still in beta
and blamed a "failure of one of the components" for the spam.
"This bug is in process of fixing," the app author said in a
translated e-mail.
While malware is no stranger to
Google's app store, Kaspersky points out that this is a first for Apple.
"It is worth mentioning that
there have not been any incidents of malware inside the iOS Apple App Store
since its launch 5 years ago," Kaspersky Lab said.
The malware discovery comes as Apple
grapples with a binary corruption problem that led to incomplete app downloads
and app crashes. After reports of the problem surfaced, Apple acknowledged the
issue and said was working on a solution.
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