Characterization of Malware Detection on Android Application

Abstract

Mobile malware performs malicious activities like stealing private information, sending message SMS, reading contacts and can even harm by exploiting data. Malwares are spreading around the world and infecting not only for end users but also for large organizations and service providers. Malware classification is a vital component and works together with malware identification to prepare the right and effective malware antidote. Not only malware classification but also malware characterization is also important to inform the user and install the malware application, because user are not aware to install the several application of their device. Android application requires several permissions to work. An essential step to install an Android application into a mobile device is to allow all permissions requested by the application. An application is being installed; the system prompts a list of permissions requested by the application and asks the user to confirm the installation. Although Google announced that a security check mechanism is applied to each application uploaded to their market, the open design of the Android operating system still allows a user to install any application downloaded from an unsafe source. Nevertheless, the permission list is still the minimal defense for a user to detect whether an application could be harmful. Therefore in my research work, characterization is still needed to be completed. Malware characterization will also be performed to identify different features from the manifest file. The proposed system can be used to improve the efficiency of Android permission system for informing the user about the risks of Android permissions and applications.