{"id":26825,"date":"2013-07-23T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-07-23T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=26825"},"modified":"2025-08-08T04:55:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:55:16","slug":"is-your-mobile-device-misbehaving-how-to-catch-common-malware-misbehaviors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/mobile-security\/is-your-mobile-device-misbehaving-how-to-catch-common-malware-misbehaviors\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Mobile Device Misbehaving? How to Catch Common Malware Misbehaviors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing in life is free, and that’s especially true when it comes to mobile apps.<\/p>\n

Thousands of free apps are flooding the marketplace\u2014most are legitimate and available at no initial cost. But they often come at the price of offering up data from your smartphone or tablet that you might not be aware of or comfortable with sharing. It can be unsettling to know that for use of a free app, you could be exchanging potentially sensitive information through location tracking, targeted advertisements and other privacy invasions. And it\u2019s not just the innocuous apps that are swiping your data, a heap of malware-laden apps are also flooding the marketplace looking for your vital information.<\/p>\n

Even more disturbing, for Android users specifically, these apps are devised to both use and abuse your device for illicit financial gain. These apps act less as genuine services and more as vehicles for malware\u2014programs that will steal and transmit sensitive data (spyware), or turn your device into a collection of Internet-connected programs communicating with other programs in order to perform malicious tasks (botnet<\/a>). Some skim your address book and send messages pretending to be you (worm<\/a>), while others sneak into your system, pretending to be harmless while performing a number of unpleasant actions in the background (trojan<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Many of these malware-laden apps contain several of the above snares and will eventually enslave your device in a network that only powers more malware and data theft.<\/p>\n

It’s a security situation worth being concerned over. In our recent report, \u201cMobile Security: McAfee Consumer Trends Report \u2013 June 2013<\/a>,” one in six downloaded applications on Android contain suspicious URLs and malware. Many of these exploits operate by “rooting” your Android device (or jailbreaking if you’re on an iPhone running iOS). Rooting allows users to hack their mobile device, be it a tablet or smartphone, and gain \u201cprivileged\u201d access to the Android operating system in order to alter or replace a number of settings, system apps, admin permissions and more. However, those permissions are there for a reason: to protect consumers from risky applications.<\/p>\n

These hacked apps and suspicious programs are most prevalent in third-party app stores, often mixed in with legitimate apps. And they\u2019re difficult to spot, unless you really know what to be on the lookout for. More often than not, try to stay clear of using third-party stores that may put your information at risk and stick to primary channels.<\/p>\n

But should you venture into the lesser-known sites and stores for your apps, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from suspect apps and potential malware.<\/p>\n

A few signs you can use to detect malware:<\/p>\n