Tools for automated analysis

At times, it could be time consuming to do the analysis part manually. There are many tools available that can perform Dynamic Analysis of Android apps. If offline analysis is your choice, Droidbox is your best bet. Droidbox is a sandboxed environment that can be used to analyze Android apps. There are some online analysis engines out there that can do the job very well. SandDroid is one among them. You can go to http://sanddroid.xjtu.edu.cn/ and upload your APK file for automated analysis.

How to be safe from Android malwares?

As an end user, it is necessary to be careful while using Android devices. As we have seen in this chapter, Android malwares that can cause great damage can be easily developed with little Android programming knowledge. Following are some general tips for end users to be safe from Android malwares:

• Always install apps from official market places (Play Store).
• Do not blindly accept permissions requested by the Apps.
• Be cautious when apps are requesting more permissions than what they really need. For example, a notes app asking for READ_SMS permission is something suspicious.
• Make sure that you update your devices as soon as there is an update released
• Use an anti-malware application.
• Try not to place too much of sensitive information on the phone.