It’s fair to say that Pokemon Go mania has calmed down these past few weeks.

That means we’re not likely to see gatherings like THIS on Sea Point promenade any time soon, which is good news for those who enjoy a leisurely stroll without having to avoid youngsters glued to their phones.

Of course with a phenomenon like Pokemon Go it was only a matter of time until the crafty criminals wangled their way in, and one of the more ingenious ways is through an app called “Guide for Pokémon Go”.

It was, until recently, available on the Google Play store and has been downloaded more than half a million times. Here’s TechCrunch:

The latest Trojan has malicious code that downloads rooting malware, securing access to the core Android operating system.

“The Trojan includes some interesting features that help it to bypass detection. For example, it doesn’t start as soon as the victim launches the app. Instead, it waits for the user to install or uninstall another app, and then checks to see whether that app runs on a real device or on a virtual machine,” [Russian security firm] Kaspersky said.

“If it’s dealing with a device, the Trojan will wait a further two hours before starting its malicious activity. Even then, infection is not guaranteed. After connecting with its command server and uploading details of the infected device, including country, language, device model and OS version, the Trojan will wait for a response. Only if it hears back will it proceed with further requests and the downloading, installation and implementation of additional malware modules.

“This approach means that the control server can stop the attack from proceeding if it wants to, skipping those users it does not wish to target, or those which it suspects are a sandbox/virtual machine, for example. This provides an additional layer of protection for the malware.”

Yes indeed, the buggers are evolving.

Who knows what kind of havoc such a virus can wreak when it starts spreading its wings, but we’re not all that keen on finding out.

Whether it’s personal or business protection you’re after, NEWORDER offer hacking and industrial espionage protection that’s second to none.

I know it sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, but unfortunately this is the world we now live in. You won’t find me downloading Pokemon Go any time soon (nothing to do with this virus), but you will find me using the pros over at NEWORDER.

[source:techcrunch]