Android Users Hit with Malware App

Google's Android platform was recently hit with a malware app thanks to one developer's efforts to slip an application into the Android Marketplace, Google's equivalent of Apple's iPhone App Store, that collects user's bank account information.

The app, called Droid09, posed as an online banking interface, but instead was a phishing tool designed to gain bank logins and account numbers. The app has since been removed from the Android Marketplace.

While Droid09 is a bad mark for the Android platform and the Android Marketplace, it doesn't necessarily mean the Google's smartphone operating system is unsafe. It does, however, show that there's room for improvement in the app screening process at the Android Marketplace.

Droid09 also serves as a reminder that other companies, including Apple, need to watch their app screening processes closely to help avoid similar apps from slipping through in the future.

[Thanks to Slashdot for the heads up.]