The latest from TechCrunch
- Lookout Identifies Advanced Android Trojan (But You're Probably Safe)
- Delicious In Purgatory
- Next New Networks Raises $1 Million Amid YouTube Acquisition Rumors
| Lookout Identifies Advanced Android Trojan (But You're Probably Safe) | Top |
| The future of computing is mobile, and, unfortunately, the future of malware will probably lie there too. Well-funded mobile security startup Lookout has just posted a blog entry detailing what it calls “the most sophisticated Android malware to date”: a Trojan that’s being “grafted” onto legitimate applications. Fortunately, the odds of you being affected are quite low. The Trojan in question has only been seen on third-party Android app marketplaces in China, which aren’t accessible without turning on “Unknown Sources” from Android’s settings menu (the vast majority of users only download applications via the official Android Market). And the infected applications request access to far more of the user’s data than they normally would (users have to approve these requests before installing an app), which can tip users off that something is amiss. But, if you’re unlucky enough to have cleared those hurdles, here are some of the details on what Lookout believes the Trojan is capable of: Though we have seen Geinimi communicate with a live server and transmit device data, we have yet to observe a fully operational control server sending commands back to the Trojan. Our analysis of Geinimi's code is ongoing but we have evidence of the following capabilities: Send location coordinates (fine location) Send device identifiers (IMEI and IMSI) Download and prompt the user to install an app Prompt the user to uninstall an app Enumerate and send a list of installed apps to the server Lookout writes that this is more sophisticated than previously discovered malware because it attempts to hide what it’s doing through encryption and bytecode obfuscation. It also says that this is the first Android malware that could potentially be used to create a botnet, though it hasn’t seen any instances of a server actually communicating with the Trojan yet: Geinimi is also the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities. Once the malware is installed on a user's phone, it has the potential to receive commands from a remote server that allow the owner of that server to control the phone. One other thing to note: Lookout is in the business of mobile phone security — it offers applications for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows mobile — so it obviously stands to benefit from exposing these exploits. CrunchBase Information Android Lookout Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Delicious In Purgatory | Top |
| On December 16 Yahoo accidentally told the world they were shutting down popular bookmarking site Delicious. They fired most or all of the Delicious staff. Then they untold that story , saying they intended to sell it off and that the press got it all wrong. Ok great. So how’s that sale process going? Not so well, according to a handful of interested buyers I’ve spoken with. I know of five companies and venture firms that have reached out to Yahoo to talk about buying Delicious. Three of them have confirmed to me that Yahoo either hasn’t responded, or hasn’t responded with any serious level of engagement. According to one source, Yahoo has told people that they are planning on starting a sale process in mid-January. One venture firm we’ve confirmed has expressed interest in Delicious is Spark Capital , although they haven’t responded to my request for comment. Part of the problem may be price. Yahoo turned down a $15 million offer for Delicious in 2009, we’ve heard. And they may be looking for that much or more now. Most of the buyers I’ve spoken recently with say their interested in the sub-$5 million range. That makes it a big who-cares for Yahoo. I imagine they are trying to focus on much bigger acquisitions, sales, strategies and cost cutting maneuvers that actually move the needle for them financially. Another problem is how to pull Delicious out of the Yahoo infrastructure. Former Delicious product manager Stephen Hood wrote earlier this month: Selling Delicious to a third-party This certainly seems like the best option for Delicious and its users, and I hope that Yahoo is able to pull it off. But it's not a straightforward proposition. As mentioned above, most of the team is now gone. Last week's leak (and the subsequent fallout) also did unfortunate damage to the Delicious brand, sending panicked users to competing products. But ultimately the real challenge here will be the technology. During my time at Delicious we rebuilt the entire infrastructure to deeply leverage a number of internal Yahoo technologies. It's all great stuff but not exactly easy to remove or replace. Yahoo may have to license some of this technology to the buyer. I'm not sure they've done that before. In the end it may be easier for a buyer to simply rebuild Delicious from the ground up, and then import all the data, say people with knowledge of the Delicious back end. There’s one person out there who certainly wants to see Delicious live on – founder Joshua Schachter . I’ve asked him if he’s interested in taking Delicious private in a deal similar to how StumbleUpon was spun out of eBay and returned to it’s orignal founders. Schachter says he’s busy working on his new startup and won’t be running Delicious again any time soon. But he does say he’s willing to help keep Delicious alive. He tells me “I’m watching this develop and am hoping Delicious ends up in a good place. I’m willing to spend time to help make that happen.” Eventually Delicious will almost certainly be spun off from Yahoo. Not because Yahoo seems to particularly care what happens to the service, but because it’s j ust good PR for them to do this the right way. As a Delicious user, that’s good enough for me. CrunchBase Information Yahoo! delicious Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Next New Networks Raises $1 Million Amid YouTube Acquisition Rumors | Top |
| While Google’s YouTube is reportedly in talks to buy Web content producer Next New Networks , the New York-based startup has just raised $1 million in debt financing. According to this SEC filing, the fledgling company is raising a round totaling $1.2 million. Listed as investors are Ross Levinsohn from Fuse Capital, Bijan Sabet from Spark Capital, Goldman Sachs and Saban Capital Group. The potential acquisition of NNN, which also manages a network of independent filmmakers alongside producing its own channels, would give YouTube its first step into producing Web videos in-house. This would be not only a shot in the arm for the video sharing site proper – upping its ability to squeeze more advertising dollars out of the popular service – but also for Google TV. As for now, those are just rumors. The funding round, though, is fact. CrunchBase Information Next New Networks Information provided by CrunchBase | |
CREATE MORE ALERTS:
Auctions - Find out when new auctions are posted
Horoscopes - Receive your daily horoscope
Music - Get the newest Album Releases, Playlists and more
News - Only the news you want, delivered!
Stocks - Stay connected to the market with price quotes and more
Weather - Get today's weather conditions
| You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. |
No comments:
Post a Comment