Android security hole can be used to disable anti-virus apps

With Android malware popping up all over the place, it has been recommended over and over again that you should check your download sources, along with installing anti-virus apps on your smartphone. However according to the researchers at Privateer Labs, a popular component commonly found in anti-virus apps an other apps can be exploited in such a way to actually disable the anti-virus software that you installed on your handset.

At the moment it does not appear that there are any attacks out there that are exploiting this vulnerability, but unfortunately that’s all the details that Privateer Labs has given. We’re guessing that announcing where the exploit is would just be an open invitation to hackers to abuse it.

The workaround and findings will be presented at Hack In The Box Security Conference which will be held in Malaysia next week.