Phishing attack hits Android Market -- be careful about banking apps!

Google's Android Market has a developer-friendly reputation, with open source code and no strict Apple-like approval process before devs can sell their software. Sometimes that openness is used for nefarious purposes, though, and malware creeps in. Just recently, the Android Market was hit with its first phishing attack, via some apps that used fairly standard tactics of mimicking bank websites to deceive users into entering their passwords.

The publisher of the fake banking apps has been banned from the Android Market now, and the apps have been deleted. Down in Cupertino, though, I'll bet Apple is looking pretty smug because this hasn't happened on the iPhone yet. On the other hand, we should take it upon ourselves as users to employ common sense. The fake bank apps were put on the Android Market by a user called "Droid09" ... you'd think that real ones would come from the banks themselves, right? With the great power of an open market comes the great responsibility of making smart purchases.

[via Engadget]

Tags: android, android market, AndroidMarket, banking, news, phishing, security