The reason? The app violates the "Android Market Content Policy," which states that apps that involve "invasions of personal privacy" are not allowed.

The controversial app can be installed on the sly on an Android device, and, as DLP's chief executive Zak Tanjeloff told The Times, "there is no visible icon or shortcut to access it, so once it's installed, it will continue to monitor without revealing itself."

Sounds like a dream come true for stalkers, right?

Tanjeloff even noted that the company chose to develop the app for Android, because a spy app like this would never make it into the iTunes App Store for iPhone users.

Looks like it won't make it into the Google Android Market either.

Spyware vs. Spyware

Although the Google Android Market is generally more open than the curated collection maintained by Apple, it does have a few rules. No spyware being one of them. Also, no illegal content, no promotions of hate or violence, no pornography, no obscenity, no material not suitable for persons under 18, no copyright violations, no "spammy" user experiences, etc., etc.

Do those rules sound familiar? In fact, they're a lot like the rules Apple has in place - rules which have been criticized as "censorship," when wielded improperly, such as in the case of the accidental ban of the satire cartoon app from Pulitzer-winning journalist Mark Fiore. 

But in Android's marketplace, rooting out the spyware isn't always so easy. In DLP's case, the app transparently advertises what it's all about - it's a spyware app - but what's more difficult to determine is when apps are after data they don't need access to.

For example, Android developer Jackeey Wu's Android Tapp application was reported as harvesting personal data and sending that data to servers in China. As it turned out, a Google investigation revealed that there was no malicious code in the app, the app was just accessing data it didn't need to. It was subsequently allowed back into the Market.

Google vs. Apple

The difference between Google and Apple's strategies, is that Apple vets apps first for violations, whereas Google pulls them after publishing. That means that malicious apps, like this latest sneaky spyware application, will often have a window where they do become available for installation from the Android Market. We asked Google if, in the case of Secret SMS Replicator, the company used its "kill switch" to remotely remove the app from any phones where it was installed. However, Google responded that it could not comment on individual apps.

What this means for end users is that, as compared to Apple, there's an increased need for anti-malware solutions to add an additional layer of protection on Google mobile devices.

In August, we put a few of these programs to the test including those from droidSecurity, Lookout, Symantec's Norton Mobile Security and Smobile. Lookout, the only one to have initially caught the app in question at the time, another sneaky spyware program called Tap Snake, was again on top of the situation with this latest threat - the company released an over-the-air update to its users to protect them from SMS Replicator.

Now, Microsoft is proposing to solve that problem with a new antivirus package. The product, code-named Morro, is slated to hit the market late next year. It will offer protection for viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojans. Even more important? It will offer that protection for free.

"Built on Microsoft's award-winning malware protection engine, 'Morro' will take advantage of the same core anti-malware technology that fuels the company's current line of security products, which have received the VB100 award from Virus Bulletin, Checkmark Certification from West Coast Labs and certification from the International Computer Security Association Labs."

An added benefit? Morro will be designed to run on a much smaller footprint than its predecessor, ensuring that computers receive adequate protection without sapping much-needed processing resources.

As a result of the new offering, Microsoft will be shuttering their paid virus protection service Windows Live OneCare, which has been provided on a subscription basis at a cost of $49.95 US for up to three machines.

Just in Time or Too Little Too Late?

This isn't a new problem, by any means. It has existed ever since users starting pulling a disk or tape out of one machine and putting it in another. The Internet only exacerbated it. Now, more than a decade after the problems started gaining momentum, Microsoft is taking more definitive action. Better late than never.

Microsoft sits among a group of companies who have made a business out of attempting to reduce the number of systems being exploited by nefarious programs. And yet Microsoft holds a unique position compared to the others. As a company, Microsoft actually has the ability to fix the problems and exploits at their source - within the operating system itself - rather than simply covering those holes with band-aids as outsiders have struggled to do.

The release of this free product promises to help Microsoft better bookend that problem, corralling viruses from both sides. But what does giving the product away do to a market that has grown up around Microsoft's vulnerability? And does the potential cannibalization of that market raise red flags from the antitrust watchdogs? Hard to say. It's likely that some of the current antivirus companies will survive by providing additional features and functionality - or by employing their technology in other ways. But - clearly - selling antivirus solutions just got a great deal more difficult.

Regardless of the business and market impact, working to make the antivirus software more accessible to a wider group of users will likely help stave off larger problems. And if the Microsoft solution actually begins to make a dent in reducing the number of costly outbreaks, isn't it worth it? At the very least, it's a step in the right direction.