An Overview of Android Covert Channel

A covert channel is a communication channel for information transmission in a manner that violates the system security mechanism. Due to its elimination capability, covert channel is commonly used to obtain private information and spread the virus. Android phones have many covert channels due to the open source nature of their operating system and rich sensors. For the first time, this paper analyzes the characteristics and embarks on the classification of covert channel, and then focuses on the covert channel and common detection methods in typical Android system, as well as the pros and cons of existing detection schemes, so as to provide a useful reference for researchers in this field.