Sure the filter enhanced social photo app Instagram is apparently worth 1 billion dollars and now owned by Facebook, but no amount of cabbage will protect it from being faked and infected with malware. This application which was originally an iOS exclusive was recently ported to Android, and became an instant hit. Somewhere around 5 million+ downloads in the first week. These malware creators took swift advantage of the photo apps popularity and created a fake version of Instagram and it is now infecting unsuspecting Android users.

Finding from Sophos, an IT security and data protection company, spoke about the malware called Andr/Boxer-F:

“In our tests, the app didn’t do a very good job of emulating the genuine Instagram app, but that may be because it failed to find the correct network operator. Because this is a malicious app that seems to be relying in the sending of background SMS messages to earn its creators revenue.”

We all need to be cautious as of course this isn’t the first time malware has raised its ugly head in the Android community, and won’t be the last. Your safest bet to decrease your chances of malware is to stay away from third party android markets where the security isn’t monitored as well (if at all) as it is with Google Play. On another note, if you chose to just stay away from Instagram all together, our own Ed Caggiani put together a great article listing and discussing 7 free Instagram Alternatives.

 Hit the source for more information on this malicious software.

source: sophos