Hackers Get Lazy, Build Trojan On Top of Android Rooting Utility

[wraggster]

Instead of creating their own exploits, some lazy Chinese hackers took the Root Assistant Android rooting toolkit and remodeled it into a trojan (http://news.softpedia.com/news/hackers-build-rootnik-trojan-on-top-of-android-rooting-toolkit-497170.shtml), which they packed inside copies of legitimate apps (distributed via unofficial app stores). Until now, only seven apps were repackaged, and only 600 users infected (http://researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/2015/12/rootnik-android-trojan-abuses-commercial-rooting-tool-and-steals-private-information/). A weird thing: there's a XML file in the trojan that prevents it from infecting Chinese users.

http://it.slashdot.org/story/15/12/06/1319227/hackers-get-lazy-build-trojan-on-top-of-android-rooting-utility