Be sure to download the app only from Google Play

Jul 4, 2013 10:59 GMT  ·  By

Famous rapper Jay Z has teamed up with Samsung to promote his latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. Users can get the album by downloading the Android app from Google Play.

However, those who make the mistake of downloading a pirated version of the Magna Carta Holy Grail app can end up with a piece of malware on their Android phones.

Security researchers from McAfee have spotted a pirated copy of the app that has an Android Trojan (Android.AntiObscan) embedded in it.

“On the surface, the malware app functions identically to the legit app. But in the in the background, the malware sends info about the infected device to an external server every time the phone restarts. The malware then attempts to download and install additional packages,” experts noted.

However, that’s not all. The malware has a 4th of July surprise for victims. On this day, the malware is programmed to replace the infected phone’s wallpaper with an image of President Obama commenting on recent events.

The name of the malicious service is NSAListener, so experts believe hacktivists might be involved in the distribution of the Trojan. However, the additional malware downloaded by the Trojan could be used for financial gains.