Classes resume in Newtown

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? With security stepped up and families still on edge in Newtown, students began returning to school Tuesday for the first time since last week's massacre, bringing a return of familiar routines ? at least, for some ? to a grief-stricken town as it buries 20 of its children.

One 6-year-old boy's funeral was under way Tuesday morning, and two other 6-year-old boys were laid to rest Monday in the first of a long, almost unbearable procession of funerals. A total of 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S history.

Classes resume Tuesday for Newtown schools except those at Sandy Hook. At Newtown High School, students in sweatshirts and jackets, many wearing headphones, betrayed mixed emotions. Some waved at or snapped photos of the assembled media horde, and others appeared visibly shaken, one with his hand to his brow.

"There's going to be no joy in school," said 17-year-old senior P.J. Hickey. "It really doesn't feel like Christmas anymore."

At St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown, a hearse arrived Tuesday morning carrying the casket of first-grader James Mattioli for the first of eight funerals of victims to be held in the coming days at the church. Mourners gathered outside, and the family followed the casket in.

At the high school, students didn't expect to get much work done Tuesday but rather anticipated most of the day would be spent talking about the shooting.

"We're going to be able to comfort each other and try and help each other get through this because that's the only way we're going to do it. Nobody can do this alone," Hickey said.

Sophomore Tate Schwab echoed that.

"It's definitely better than just sitting at home watching the news," he said.

"It really hasn't sunk in yet," he said. "It feels to me like it hasn't happened. It's really weird."

As for concerns about safety, Hickey was defiant.

"This is where I feel the most at home. I feel safer here than anywhere else in the world."

Some parents were likely to keep their children at home anyway. Local police and school officials have been discussing how and where to increase security, and state police said they would be on alert for threats and hoaxes.

On Monday, Newtown held the first two funerals of many the picturesque New England community of 27,000 people will face over the next few days, just as other towns are getting ready for the holidays. At least one funeral is planned for a student ? 6-year-old Jessica Rekos ? as well as several wakes, including one for teacher Victoria Soto, who has been hailed as a hero for sacrificing herself to save several students.

Two funeral homes filled Monday with mourners for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both 6 years old. A rabbi presided at Noah's service, and in keeping with Jewish tradition, the boy was laid to rest in a simple brown wooden casket with a Star of David on it.

"I will miss your perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes, framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room," Noah's mother, Veronique Pozner, said at the service, according to remarks the family provided to The Associated Press. Both services were closed to the news media.

"Most of all, I will miss your visions of your future," she said. "You wanted to be a doctor, a soldier, a taco factory manager. It was your favorite food, and no doubt you wanted to ensure that the world kept producing tacos."

She closed by saying: "Momma loves you, little man."

Noah's twin, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the killing frenzy.

At Jack Pinto's Christian service, hymns rang out from inside the funeral home, where the boy lay in an open casket. Jack was among the youngest members of a youth wrestling association in Newtown, and dozens of little boys turned up at the service in gray Newtown Wrestling T-shirts.

Jack was a fan of New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz and was laid to rest in a Cruz jersey.

Authorities say the man who killed the two boys and their classmates, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot his mother, Nancy, at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the school, where he broke in and opened fire. A Connecticut official said the mother, a gun enthusiast who practiced at shooting ranges, was found dead in her pajamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

Lanza was wearing all black, with an olive-drab utility vest with lots of pockets, during the attack.

As investigators worked to figure out what drove him to lash out with such fury ? and why he singled out the school ? federal agents said that he had fired guns at shooting ranges over the past several years but that there was no evidence he did so recently as practice for the rampage.

Debora Seifert, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said both Lanza and his mother fired at shooting ranges, and also visited ranges together.

"We do not have any indication at this time that the shooter engaged in shooting activities in the past six months," Seifert said.

Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the attack.

Whatever his motives, normalcy will be slow in revisiting Newtown. Classes were canceled district-wide Monday.

Dan Capodicci, whose 10-year-old daughter attends the school at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, said he thinks it's time for her to get back to classes.

"It's the right thing to do. You have to send your kids back. But at the same time I'm worried," he said. "We need to get back to normal."

The district has made plans to send surviving Sandy Hook students to Chalk Hill, a former middle school in the neighboring town of Monroe. Sandy Hook desks that will fit the small students are being taken there, empty since town schools consolidated last year, and tradesmen are donating their services to get the school ready within a matter of days.

With Sandy Hook Elementary still designated a crime scene, state police Lt. Paul Vance said it could be months before police turn the school back over to the district.

Lanza is believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16. It is similar to the weapon used in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon and other deadly attacks around the U.S. Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in this country under the 1994 assault weapons ban, but the law expired in 2004.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced Tuesday it plans to sell its stake in Freedom Group, maker of the Bushmaster rifle, following the school shootings.

Cerberus said in a statement Tuesday that it was deeply saddened by Friday's events, and that it will hire a financial adviser to help with the process of selling its Freedom Group interests.

The outlines of a national debate on gun control have begun to take shape. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said curbing gun violence is a complex problem that will require a "comprehensive solution."

Carney did not offer specific proposals or a timeline. He said President Barack Obama will meet with law enforcement officials and mental health professionals in coming weeks.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, flanked by shooting survivors and relatives of victims of gunfire around the country, pressed Obama and Congress to toughen gun laws and tighten enforcement after the Newtown massacre.

"If this doesn't do it," he asked, "what is going to?"

At least one senator, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, said Monday that the attack in Newtown has led him to rethink his opposition to the ban on assault weapons.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who is an avid hunter and lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, said it's time to move beyond the political rhetoric and begin an honest discussion about reasonable restrictions on guns.

"This is bigger than just about guns," he added. "It's about how we treat people with mental illness, how we intervene, how we get them the care they need, how we protect our schools. It's just so sad."

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed, Helen O'Neill, John Christoffersen, Pat Eaton-Robb and Katie Zezima in Newtown; Christine Armario in Miami; and Julie Pace in

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/classes-resuming-newtown-minus-sandy-hook-074730537.html

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Analysis: California refiners dreamin' of shale oil face hurdles

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Two years on, a gusher of U.S. shale oil production is finally starting to seep into California, where refiners in the country's most isolated fuel market are waging an increasingly desperate battle to curb costs.

It's far from certain, however, that cut-priced light crude from eastern Texas or North Dakota will arrive quickly enough or in sufficient volume to revitalize California plants in the same way new domestic oil has rescued East Coast refiners.

The nation's toughest permitting rules, complex new carbon emission limits and a lack of pipeline infrastructure might delay the flow of large-scale shipments until the end of next year or beyond. By then the big discounts on the glut of U.S. inland crude might have diminished, some analysts warn.

For some companies it's a make or break moment. Niche refiner Alon Energy USA Inc - which mainly produces asphalt for which demand has slumped - shut its underutilized southern California refining system in October and November while it builds an offloading facility to bring in inland crude by rail late next year.

It is the only California refiner so far to seek permits to build a rail offloading facility, according to state and local agencies, but others are definitely looking.

Meanwhile, other companies are looking to profit from the price discrepancies that have emerged from the record boom in output from previously untapped shale deposits.

Kirby Corp , the nation's largest tank barge operator, bought rival Penn Maritime last month in a $295 million deal to boost its coastal fleet. Kirby is "starting to discuss" the idea of expanding those operations to the West Coast, moving oil from railway terminals in Washington State to existing marine import docks in California.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP Chief Executive Richard Kinder said there was "very enthusiastic" interest in a project to convert part of an underused natural gas pipeline to move crude to Southern California. The potentially $2 billion project would transport as much as 400,000 bpd of crude from West Texas and experts say it would take at least a year, if not two to complete.

The race is on and the clock is ticking. Other big projects across the United States are well ahead and could shrink the big discounts by 2014, according to Bernstein Research.

"It's entirely possible California refiners decide they can't get this done in time to catch the arbitrage, so refiners wouldn't get the benefit of low-cost crude from the Midcontinent," said David Hackett, president of energy consultancy Stillwater Associates in Irvine, California.

ISOLATED OUT WEST

California's sheer distance from other markets east of the Rocky Mountains - where the big shale fields are located - already sets it apart. No major pipelines carry crude to the West Coast. No major waterways flow east to west into the state's refining hubs. Even the nation's major freight railroads thin out over the mountain range and on the West Coast.

The state's refiners have long depended on crude from now-shrinking fields in California and Alaska as well as Canada, where export infrastructure also has not kept up with rising production. Imported crude from Argentina to Asia now meets half of California's demand, up from just 10 percent in 1995.

Ironically, California has its own huge shale play, the Monterey shale, estimated by the U.S. government to be the biggest such reserve in the country. But output has been disappointing and producers have struggled with geology that differs from other fast-flowing reserves.

So instead, local refiners are angling to bring in oil from places such as the Bakken fields of North Dakota and the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin in Texas, turning to railways to tap into domestic production that is running at its highest in two decades.

The incentive is clear. Bakken was priced at around $82 a barrel on Friday, while roughly similar quality ANS crude from Alaska was nearly $106, according to Reuters data. That's a steal, even accounting for the up to $15 a barrel cost of shipping the oil by rail from North Dakota to the West Coast.

Phillips 66, which runs refineries in Los Angeles and San Francisco, is "looking for everything we can find," says Tim Taylor, executive vice president of commercial, marketing, transportation and business development.

Its West Coast plants already use rail to export refined fuels and have some capacity for unloading crude, he added.

At the moment, it is a trickle, however. While more than 40,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude from North Dakota is moving west to Washington, it struggles to move south.

Tesoro Corp - poised to take control of more than a quarter of the West Coast's refining capacity when it closes a $2.5 billion deal to buy BP Plc's Los Angeles area plant - is taking "a few thousand barrels per day" of Bakken to its California system, Tesoro Chief Executive Greg Goff recently told analysts. He did not specify which plants.

NuStar Energy Lp , a logistics company, is using manifest shipments - individual tank cars that are less economic than dedicated unit trains - to get some inland crude to its terminal just outside the San Francisco Bay area, the company says.

"We expect to see more of these movements west," Goff told analysts. "Regardless of the origination, additional crude oil supply should improve the West Coast crude oil position."

But dedicated terminals are going to be needed to deliver crude in meaningful volume.

For a FACTBOX on West Coast refiners see: [ID:nL1E8NE6BU]

OF CARBON AND PERMITS

The scramble for cheaper crude comes just as California implements a landmark global warming law that requires emissions to match 1990 levels by 2020. Refiners say it might require hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to meet the requirements, potentially forcing some of them to quit the market.

One component of that law might also affect efforts to use more domestic crude: The Low Carbon Fuel Standard, or LCFS, that requires California refineries to run crudes produced in environmentally friendly ways.

The regulations have yet to be finalized six years after the law was passed and are now tangled in the courts. But experts say the LCFS could possibly shut out Bakken crude because of associated natural gas flaring during production, or even cheaper Canadian crude because of their emissions.

John Auers, senior vice president and a refinery specialist at Turner, Mason & Co in Dallas, said the method of transport also is likely to play a part in the "carbon intensity," or CI, scale that determines which crudes they are allowed to process. That could tilt the scales in favor of nearby domestic crude, in spite of the higher carbon cost of truck or rail transport.

"Conceptually, I would think that LCFS rules should advantage domestic crude movements to California. That doesn't mean it will," Auers said.

A more definitive obstacle is the permitting process to build new infrastructure. While small-scale deliveries are likely to keep trickling in, new facilities must be built to handle the larger unit trains of 100 tank cars or more.

More than a dozen such terminals have already been built in the past two years, with more than 500,000 barrels a day of crude now running on U.S. railways, according to the Association of American Railroads. Two years ago that was near zero.

But in California, progress is slow.

Alon Chief Executive Paul Eisman told analysts last month that it may take "up to a year" to get all the permits necessary to build the rail offloading terminal near its 94,000 bpd refining complex outside Bakersfield.

"We've been in the queue for a few months, so we think that the permit process at this point is less than a year away," he said. But he added there was still "a lot of uncertainty."

By contrast, Tesoro applied to Washington's state clean air agency for a permit to build its rail facility in July 2011, during the early stages of the Bakken boom. Approval came four months later and shipments of 40,000 bpd began this September.

Hackett said he is confident California refiners will figure out how to tap the growing U.S. flows because it is so cheap compared with imports that they can't ignore it.

"It's not an if, it's a when," he added.

(Reporting By Kirsten Hays. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-california-refiners-dreamin-shale-oil-face-hurdles-115339739--sector.html

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'Missing' polar weather systems could impact climate predictions

Dec. 16, 2012 ? Intense but small-scale polar storms could make a big difference to climate predictions, according to new research from the University of East Anglia and the University of Massachusetts.

Difficult-to-forecast polar mesoscale storms occur frequently over the polar seas; however, they are missing in most climate models.

Research published Dec. 16 in Nature Geoscience shows that their inclusion could paint a different picture of climate change in years to come.

Polar mesoscale storms are capable of producing hurricane-strength winds which cool the ocean and lead to changes in its circulation.

Prof Ian Renfrew, from UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, said: "These polar lows are typically under 500 km in diameter and over within 24-36 hours. They're difficult to predict, but we have shown they play an important role in driving large-scale ocean circulation.

"There are hundreds of them a year in the North Atlantic, and dozens of strong ones. They create a lot of stormy weather, strong winds and snowfall -- particularly over Norway, Iceland, and Canada, and occasionally over Britain, such as in 2003 when a massive dump of snow brought the M11 to a standstill for 24 hours.

"We have shown that adding polar storms into computer-generated models of the ocean results in significant changes in ocean circulation -- including an increase in heat travelling north in the Atlantic Ocean and more overturning in the Sub-polar seas.

"At present, climate models don't have a high enough resolution to account for these small-scale polar lows.

"As Arctic Sea ice continues to retreat, polar lows are likely to migrate further north, which could have consequences for the 'thermohaline' or northward ocean circulation -- potentially leading to it weakening."

Alan Condron from the University of Massachusetts said: "By simulating polar lows, we find that the area of the ocean that becomes denser and sinks each year increases and causes the amount of heat being transported towards Europe to intensify.

"The fact that climate models are not simulating these storms is a real problem because these models will incorrectly predict how much heat is being moved northward towards the poles. This will make it very difficult to reliably predict how the climate of Europe and North America will change in the near-future."

Prof Renfrew added: "Climate models are always improving, and there is a trade-off between the resolution of the model, the complexity of the model, and the number of simulations you can carry out. Our work suggests we should put some more effort into resolving such storms."

'The impact of polar mesoscale storms on Northeast Atlantic ocean circulation' by Alan Condron from the University of Massachusetts (US) and Ian Renfrew from UEA (UK), is published in Nature Geoscience on December 16, 2012.

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Journal Reference:

1. Alan Condron, Ian A. Renfrew. The impact of polar mesoscale storms on northeast Atlantic Ocean circulation. Nature Geoscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1661

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/cHiDMGtQiR0/121216132505.htm

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From the Editor's Desk: Sandy Hook

I don't much feel like writing about phones this weekend. Instead, I'll paraphrase a Facebook post from an old friend of mine from high school who leads a congregation in Nebraska:

It's so easy to say, "My heart/prayers goes out." How about this: Here's the address for Sandy Hook Elementary School: 12 Dickenson Drive, Sandy Hook, CT 06482.

Take five minutes. Sit down with your kid. Write a letter. Draw a picture. Make a card. Send it to them. Tell them you're praying for them. Tell them you're so sorry they're hurting. Tell them you love them. Don't just say you love them on Facebook. LOVE them for real. ... Make your love tangible.

Wise words. Hug your kids, remember the victims. And don't ever stop trying to make this world a little better.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ep76Jht0Spc/story01.htm

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Fall and summer graduates honored ? WCU News

Members of the graduating class wave at family and friends.

The Western Carolina University community brought the fall semester to a close Saturday (Dec. 15) as commencement exercises were held in Ramsey Regional Activity Center to honor the university?s newest graduating class and a group of Catamount alumni who were awarded degrees in August.

WCU?s fall class includes about 695 students who recently have been completing academic requirements to receive their degrees. A group of graduates who completed degree requirements during summer school and who already have been conferred degrees also joined in the ceremony.

Chancellor David O. Belcher presided over commencement and delivered the charge to the fall semester degree candidates and summer graduates. WCU senior Alecia Lorann Page, a Shelby native who serves as president of WCU?s Student Government Association, delivered the primary commencement address.

An honorary doctorate recognized the achievements of the late Billy Schulz and his mother, Jane Schulz.

The ceremony also included the presentation of an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree to retired WCU faculty member Jane B. Schulz and posthumously to her late son, William Robert ?Billy? Schulz, for their efforts in improving educational, vocational and social opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome and other special needs.

Reading from the honorary doctorate citation, Belcher said Jane Schulz was a wife and mother of three children, with a fourth child on the way, when a doctor diagnosed her son, Billy, who was born in 1956, with Down syndrome. ?He advised you to take Billy home and love him,? Belcher read. ?Love him you did, so deeply and so fiercely that you became a champion for him and for the quality of life he could have. Together, you became pioneers in special education and champions for all who have intellectual disabilities.?

Jane Schulz?s work as a kindergarten teacher opened up an opportunity for Billy Schulz to attend a kindergarten class, and she was inspired by that experience to co-author a landmark book in the special education field, ?Mainstreaming Exceptional Students: A Guide for Classroom Teachers,? in 1979. Jane Schulz earned bachelor?s, master?s and doctoral degrees at Auburn University and went on to teach in special education at WCU for more than 20 years. She also developed a statewide program to train teachers to better work with special-needs students and was instrumental in organizing the Special Olympics program in Jackson County, an effort that spilled over into surrounding counties in Western North Carolina.

?Along the way, Billy continued to show you that he and others with Down syndrome were capable of far more than many realized,? Belcher read from the citation. ?He was a beloved staff member at WCU?s Hunter Library for 21 years. He also worked at a nursing home where he helped care for his father and at a grocery store that earlier this year awarded him a pin for 10 years of service. As you delivered hundreds of presentations and workshops on improving special education, Billy overcame stage fright to join you on many occasions. In his own words, he helped you share the story of his life and dispel negative stereotypes of people who have disabilities, and encouraged all to seek their full promise. Together, you motivated and inspired countless others.?

Billy Schulz died in September of this year after a period of declining health. In accepting the honorary doctorate for herself and on behalf of her son, Jane Schulz said he ?exemplified that friendship has no boundaries, that each of us is important, and that all of us have contributions to make in our community.

?I never dreamed of receiving such an honor, and wish Billy could be here. He really deserved this more than I do,? she said.

?Billy made friends with everyone. ?Hi, I?m Billy. You got a dog?? made it difficult for anyone to ignore him,? Jane Schulz told the Ramsey Center audience. ?We have heard from people we don?t even know that, frequently, they would go in the store where Billy worked and be uplifted by his greeting and cheerfulness. We all miss him.?

?Billy?s message, told in his unique language, repeated that every day was a good day, that we all have work to do, that we have friends everywhere, that it?s nice to laugh and relax, that you love your family, and that you go to church on Sunday because people are counting on you,? she said. ?Even though he dealt with anxiety, frustration and health issues, just like the rest of us, Billy ended each presentation with ?I got a good life.?

?Last August, Chancellor Belcher called to tell us about the honor Western Carolina University intended to bestow upon us,? she said. ?During that time, Billy was sick with the beginning of the illness that led to his death. I sat on his bed and explained the honor to him. He said, ?Then who I be, Mom ? Dr. Billy?? And so, speaking for my amazing family, our devoted friends, for myself, and especially for Dr. Billy, thank you.?

Alecia Page delivered the primary commencement address.

In her commencement address, SGA President Page, who is majoring in English with a concentration in literature, related to the audience her experiences of growing up ?not at the poverty line, but below it. I didn?t need to turn on the TV to check the weather ? just walked into the living room and peeked through the collapsing roof to see what kind of day it was,? she said.

Page said she came to WCU as a student with an ?unquenchable thirst for success. I climbed the ladder, got into the Honors College, joined the Student Government Association, and sacrificed many good times for the sake of maintaining a polished GPA,? she said. ?As the years went by, I took on more and more ? increasing my class load, volunteering for committees, joining clubs. By my senior year, I found myself elected student body president of Western and vice president of the (University of North Carolina system) Association of Student Governments.

?I did all the right things, but took all the wrong approaches, constantly looking for the payoff, for the day when my hard work would lead to security, stability ? but I fear that if you?ve ever truly experienced the shame of privation, no success will ever be enough to make you safe,? she said.

?So, if you?re sitting here today and you are afraid, join the club,? Page told the new graduates and graduating students. ?I can?t give you the solution ? can?t guarantee that because you have a degree you?ll never do without. But I can tell you this: There is only one thing in this world that you can pay for that cannot be taken, and that is your education. This degree isn?t a meaningless piece of paper or something to check off of your to-do list. This degree says, ?I took the time and I invested in myself. I am capable, competent and credible. I am worth hiring.??

Page said the mistake she made as she ?climbed the ladder? as a WCU student was that she was not taking the time to enjoy the successes of the moment. ?I wanted the degree that said I went to school and the job that came after,? she said. ?So, if I could give you any advice, it would be this: Don?t live your life waiting to get to happiness. Don?t tell yourself you have time to get a good life later. Celebrate this victory ? this accomplishment that two-thirds of North Carolinians haven?t been able to achieve. Regardless of where you started, what hardships you?ve endured in the past, or what difficulties you may face in the future, recognize that this degree means you can overcome, ascend. Congratulations, fellow Catamounts, and I wish you happiness as you seek to reap the benefits of your wise investment.?

In his charge, Belcher recognized the graduating students and new alumni for the hard work that had led them to celebrate their educational accomplishments at commencement. He commended their achievements and abilities to adapt to changing circumstances, think critically, make thoughtful decisions, solve problems and embrace the responsibility of making a difference and giving back.

Belcher urged the graduating students to keep striving for excellence, to continue learning, and to value their connections with other people. He encouraged them to live the institution?s commitment to making the world a better place and engage in service opportunities.

The chancellor also reminded commencement participants to thank family, friends and others who supported them in their educational pursuits and to take time to reflect as a new chapter begins in their lives.

?Some of you have your life trajectories all mapped out, while others of you are less certain of future paths,? said Belcher. ?The real world into which you are heading is characterized by all sorts of challenges and uncertainties, but you are ready. You have the minds and the skills to chart your own course, and you will do so. You are ready for the next chapter.?

A complete list of WCU?s new graduates will be announced following the posting of grades from final examinations.

Relatives and friends celebrate with graduating students.

Source: http://news-prod.wcu.edu/2012/12/fall-and-summer-graduates-honored/

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S. Africa's Zuma Vows Change at Party Conference (Voice Of America)

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Android banking Trojans were in Google Play

21 hrs.

Ben Weitzenkorn , TechNewsDaily

Mobile?banking Trojans for Android devices, disguised as real banking apps, have made their way into the official Google Play store, where at least one was up until earlier this week.

Once a user downloads and launches one of the malicious apps, which are all variants of the CitMo Trojan, the app prompts users to enter their phone numbers. Then users are asked to enter a 5-digit code they receive via text message.

Entering that code "authorizes" the app, which then hides text messages to and from financial institutions by creating two new files.

"The file 'hide.txt' will contain information about the numbers which must be hidden if an incoming SMS message is received from [them]," Kaspersky Lab expert Denis Maslennikov said in a blog posting.

"The file 'view.txt' will contain information about numbers which must be shown on the screen if an incoming SMS message is received from [them]. These actions are performed in order to hide all the activities related to the transfer of money stolen from a user's account."

Maslennikov added that one developer, listed as "Samsonov Sergey" (the names are likely reversed), ?was responsible for at least three banking Trojans that made it into Android's official app store, all with the exact same functionality.

To its credit, Maslennikov said, Google rid Google Play of the offending apps Thursday, the day after Kaspersky alerted it to the bugs.

These aren't the first malicious apps to make it into Google Play, but the official store is much safer to buy from than "off-road" app markets.

No matter where its owner shops for apps, every Android device should have anti-virus software installed.

Copyright 2012 TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/android-banking-trojans-were-google-play-store-1C7615013

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