Android Apps Security

Chapter 10

Malware and Spyware

Like the personal computer, the mobile smartphone is susceptible to various types of malware. Throughout this chapter, I will refer to malware and spyware collectively as malware. Even though I do this, it is essential to know the difference between each of these types of hostile applications.

Malware is defined as any piece of malicious software that lives on a user’s computer or smartphone whose sole task is to cause destruction of data, steal personal information, or gain access to system resources in order to gain full control of the device it is on. Malware is written with the sole intent of causing harm; and usually, malware authors will write the malware to target a specific weakness in an operating system ...