Norton introduces Android app to track kids smartphone activity

With the rising popularity of mobile apps, Norton puts forth its security mobile apps to keep a tab on smartphone activities of kids. Norton has introduced the Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition, which is a free app for Android platform running version 2.2 or 2.3 that enables parents to keep a tab on their children’s mobile activities. It is a part of the Norton Online family for PCs and Macs. The app dishes out various features to teach kids safe and appropriate digital habits.The application also offers web monitoring and blocking features for free. It lets parents view the sites their kids are visiting and block inappropriate content. The same set of web filtering settings can be used for the child’s PC and apply them on the Android phone.  The service tracks up to seven days of content for free.

“Parents know they need to be involved in their kids’ digital lives, and most actually set and discuss house rules for computer use and Internet browsing” said Effendy Ibrahim, Internet Safety Advocate and Director, Asia Consumer Business, Symantec.  “But to make those rules work, you need to extend them to your child’s mobile phone where so much web browsing takes place.  With Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition, parents can help their kids stick to those rules, regardless of which device they are on.”

Parents need to simply download the app on the child’s Android phone, log into Norton Online Family account or create one, and centrally manage ‘House Rules’ on the device through onlinefamily.norton.com. More than 12 phones can be added to the same account without any additional charge.

Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition is available for free in the Android Market and supports English, Japanese, German and Polish languages. A free, basic Norton Online Family account will activate the mobile web-filtering and monitoring within Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition. A paid subscription to Norton Online Family Premier is now available only in the U.S, which unlocks further advanced features too.

Android Trojans downloaded by millions, still on Android Market

Symantec last week identified 13 new malicious applications on the Android Market, saying the combined download figures—reportedly up to 5 million—make it "the highest distribution of any malware identified so far this year." The applications use Android.Counterclank, which Symantec says is "a bot-like threat that can receive commands to carry out certain actions, as well as steal information from the device."
We found six of the apps from three publishers still appearing on the Android market Monday morning. Symantec calls Android.Counterclank a Trojan, and Google's Android Market policies specifically ban Trojans and other types of malware. On the other hand, Symantec classifies Android.Counterclank as having "very low" risk, and the app publishers barely seem interested in hiding the programs' capabilities.
One such app (link is probably NSFW) identified by Symantec as a Trojan contains "write browser's history and bookmarks" under its list of permissions. This is coupled with a generic warning from Google that "Malicious applications can use this to erase or modify your Browser's data." Another app on Symantec's list is "Deal or BE Millionaire," and one user review from more than two weeks ago warns, "beware malware... every time you run this game, a 'search' icon gets added randomly to one of your screens. I keep deleting the icon, but it always reappears. If you tap the icon you get a page that looks suspiciously like the Google search page." Symantec says the presence of the search icon on the home screen is one sign of Android.Counterclank infection.
Symantec says the apps can "copy bookmarks on the device, copy opt out details, copy push notifications, copy shortcuts, identify the last executed command, modify the browser's home page, steal build information," and retrieve device data such as the Android ID, MAC address and SIM serial number. We've asked Google if the company plans to remove all of these apps from the Market and will provide an update as we get new information.
UPDATE: As one commenter points out, Lookout Mobile Security has a different take on the matter, that Android.Counterclank is not malware but "an aggressive form of an ad network." While these apps contain software that is annoying and that average users do not want, Lookout notes that it isn't designed to commit identity theft or financial fraud. We've also learned that several of the apps were pulled from the Android market because they violated Android Market policies unrelated to malware, such as trademark violations or artificially increasing ratings.