Chinese Android Phones Struck By Geinimi Virus
Dec 31, 2010 03:11 PM EDT by Meghan J. McDonough, LAPTOP Web Producer/Writer 
Lookout Mobile Security is reporting that some Android phones in China have been hit by a trojan called “Geinmi” that transmits personal information such as phone numbers and send it back to servers. Once the trojan is installed on a phone, the servers can send information and commands to that phone, creating a bot-net scenario, which could result in phones turning into mindless droids doing the bidding of a giant robot server overlord.
The good news? The virus is currently only able to infect a small number of phones in China. It’s attached to repackaged versions of a few legitimate apps that are resold through third party download markets and side-loaded on to a phone. The apps affected are the repackaged versions of Monkey Jump 2, Sex Positions, Presidents vs. Aliens, City Defense, and Baseball Superstars 2010.
In other words, if you’re a Chinese Android user and you only download apps from the official Android Market, you have little to worry about. If you’re not a Chinese Android user and you don’t side-load apps from 3rd party services in China, you have nothing to worry about. However, it’s worth looking into anti-virus protection for your phone and Lookout says they already have a fix in place to stop the Geinimi trojan virus.
