Android Thoughts: Be Careful What You Install: Google Pulls 21 Malicious Apps From The Android Market

"Google has just pulled 21 popular free apps from the Android Market. According to the company, the apps are malware aimed at getting root access to the user's device, gathering a wide range of available data, and downloading more code to it without the user's knowledge."

Eesh. One of the first things I tell/show my friends who get a new Android device is how to look at and read the permissions requested by an app when you install it. I know some are very misleading and vague so when in doubt, don't install. I'm not sure exactly what security permissions these apps requested but I would gather that they are not too out of the ordinary, especially if over 50,000 people had downloaded them. The real scary part is that these apps would attempt to root your device then have their way with it, installing apps or changing code at will. After this there is no guaranteed way to make sure your device is clean. Perhaps re-flashing your rom, bootloader and recovery might get you clean but most users aren't going to know how to do that. Even though Google has pulled these apps from the market and from users devices there are still thousands of compromised devices walking around out there. Not good. Not good at all. :(