Android trojan spreads through Cutwail spam botnet

An Android trojan is being spread through one of the world's largest spam botnets.

According to an analysis posted last month by Brett Stone-Gross, a senior security researcher at Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit, the trojan, called Stels, is delivered through emails sent by the Cutwail spam botnet.

The phishing emails lure users into clicking malicious links that appear to be an Adobe Flash Player update.

Stels is capable of stealing mobile users' contact lists and sending or intercepting text messages. It can also uninstall applications, make phone calls, including those to premium numbers, and deploy additional malware.

Though Stels cannot "root" Android devices, it can operate on nearly all versions of the mobile operating system, Stone-Gross said.