What to do if your Dell Streak was infected by DroidDream malware
A few days ago, Android Police discovered that a nasty virus now known as DroidDream had infected more than 50 apps in Android Market (full list here).
The apps have since been pulled, but what made this malware so dangerous was that some instances of it were hidden in pirated apps re-introduced into the Market, which means the potential to trick users into installing them was very high. DroidDream itself was already despicably devious, with the power to root your Dell Streak, send sensitive data like your IMEI and IMSI to a remote server, silently install other apps, and possibly steal other information, but the fact that it was tucked away inside stolen apps from respectable developers is downright deplorable.
So what do you do if the malware with the heavenly name has dragged your Streak straight down to hell? Other than change your online passwords, inform your contacts that their personal information may have been stolen, and maybe place some sort of fraud alert on your credit report (depending on how much info was on your Streak in the first place), you can keep reading.
If you aren't sure whether DroidDream has forced its way into your Streak, then the best way to check is to grab Lookout Mobile Security from the Market and run a scan.
If anything is found, Lookout will clean it up and then protect you from "all instances of DroidDream."
If your Streak is rooted and running a pre-Gingerbread ROM like DJ_Steve's StreakDroid, then you can take it a step further and wipe your device, reformat the SD card, go back to the stock ROM, re-flash whatever custom ROM you were on, and then flash this malware exploit patch put together by xda's Rodderick or install the DroidDreamKiller app from the Market (no .zip flashing required).
Unfortunately, there's obviously no way to get back any of your personal information or other sensitive data that may have been compromised. All you can do now is pay closer attention to what you install on your Streak, monitor your credit reports, carefully review your credit card and bank statements, change your passwords, and pray that something like this doesn't happen again.
Update 3/6: Google is remotely removing the apps from affected devices, undoing the exploit, and working on additional security measures in the Market. [Google Mobile Blog] Thanks, Lotso!
A modified version of this article originally appeared on Good and EVO, my dedicated HTC EVO 4G site.
