If you are an Android user and have either of the apps called Superclean or DroidCleaner (AKA DroidClean), you are advised to remove them immediately to avoid malware jumping to your PC. The app, which has been removed from the app store, infects the computer with a virus that will open files, gather photos and obtain contact information.

The apps claim to help phones run faster by freeing up memory, but in fact they wait for the user to connect their phone to a PC to make updates, then the malware, a bot, will be installed on the PC and begin doing damage.

The malware can wreak a lot of havoc, being programmed to:

Enable Wi-Fi
Gather information about your device
Send SMS messages without your knowledge
Upload the entire contents of the phone’s SD card
Upload and/or delete all SMS messages
Open links in your web browser
Upload files and folders to the server of those behind the malware
Upload the contacts, photos and coordinates from the device to those behind the malware

Victor Chebyshev of Kapersky Lab wrote in a Kapersky Lab blog post that the method used by the apps to distribute malware is unsophisticated, but said that it is still effective, saying, “Doing this using a smartphone and then waiting for the smartphone to connect to a PC is a completely new attack vector. In the current versions of Microsoft Windows, the AutoRun feature is disabled by default for external drives; however, not all users have migrated to modern operating systems. It is those users who use outdated OS versions that are targeted by this attack vector.”

Chebyshev went on to say, “Thus, a typical attack victim is the owner of an inexpensive Android smartphone who connects his or her smartphone to a PC from time to time, for example, to change the music files on the device. Judging by the sales statistics for Android smartphones, I would say that such people are quite numerous. For the attack to be more successful, it only lacks a broader distribution scheme.”

If you have either of the apps, they must be removed manually unless you already have anti-virus software installed on your computer.

And, Chevyshev cautions, that there is no “miracle” that any software can perform that will make an old device with low memory any faster.