“Obama vs Romney” US 2012 Election Android App Found to Be Malicious

With the US elections drawing near, many Android users are most likely surfing the web in search for related applications. Experts warn voters to be highly cautious since many of these apps are highly suspicious.

The first app analyzed by Trend Micro is called “Obama vs Romney.” Researchers found that it’s designed not only to push shady advertisements (via airpush.com), but it can also access information on the device, such as GPS coordinates.

Another program is “Captain America Barack Obama 1.0,” identified by the security firm as ANDROIDOS_ADWLEADBOLT. While the user sees it installing a Barack Obama 3D wallpaper and a US flag, the app seamlessly collects information from the phone.

Other applications that push annoying advertisements and collect device details are “Barack Obama Campaign LWP 1” and “Mitt Romney Live Wallpaper 1,” both being detected as ANDROIDOS_ADWLEADBOLT.

The apps have been removed from Google Play, but they still exist on third-party markets. They’ve all been downloaded several hundred times so far.