Google activates 'kill switch' to remove Android malware

Google's response to a bout of Trojan-horse applications targeting its Android operating system shows how much and how little power it exerts over that platform. The key part of Google's latest reaction is the remote removal from users' phones of applications identified as malware.

Google will also send a software update called "Android Market Security Tool March 2011" to infected phones over the next day or two that will close the security vulnerabilities exploited by this malware.

Although the current version of Android, 2.3, doesn't have the vulnerability exploited by this malware, most Android phones don't run it. And Google can't make them offer updates to 2.3.

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