The project will catalog and share Android malware



Researchers at NC State, have announced the 'Android Malware Genome Project', which could boost collaborative threat analysis.

The Android Malware Genome Project is an effort led by by researchers at NC State.

This one aims to unravel the constituent parts of Android malware and figure out how it all fits together.

They hope it will eventually pave the way for coming up with better and more proactive defense mechanisms.

According to the project’s website, the malware research collected by NC State has already been shared with 27 other organizations around the world. The recipients appear to all be universities and technology companies.

Due to abuse potential, the malware samples won’t be freely available to everyone on the Internet. Organizations will have to be vetted in order to join the project. It seems somewhat similar to the way that the Center for Disease Control makes deadly real-world viruses available to researchers for legitimate purposes.
Apparently, NC State’s malware collection includes over 1,200 samples, and aprox. 85 percent of those discovered in the wild were bundled in repackaged versions of genuine apps. Also:

Approximately 37 percent of them also exploited operating system vulnerabilities that allow them to gain higher privilege levels. The researchers discovered that mobile security products typically detect only 20 to 80 percent of the malware.
This is a nice step to combat the growing threat by providing security researchers with the data they need to get in front of the problem. Let's hope it isn't too late...

More details in their official website below!

NEWS SOURCE #1: Android Malware Genome Project will catalog share Android malware (via) ArsTechnica
NEWS SOURCE #2: Mal Genome Project (via) Official Site

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!