Researchers boost malware detection on Android devices

Researchers have developed a new tool to detect and contain the type of malware that attempts root exploits in Android devices. The new security tool is called Practical Root Exploit Containment. Developed by North Carolina State University researchers, the tool is said to improve on previous techniques by targeting code written in the C programming language – which is often used to create root exploit malware, whereas the bulk of Android applications are written in Java.

With smartphones and tablets increasingly at risk from malware, researchers from North Carolina State University have devised a new and potentially better way to detect it on Android devices. The tool they have developed, called Practical Root Exploit Containment (PREC), is trained to uncover aberrant code written in the C programming language, the language in which they say most malicious Android code is written. PREC looks for root exploits, in which a program gains system administration access rights to the entire device, which a malicious hacker can use with ill intent.