The study look at a type of malware known as a 'rootkits.'

Unlike viruses, rootkits attack the heart of a computer’s software -- its operating system.

They can only be detected from outside a compromised operating system with a specialised tool known as a virtual machine monitor, which can examine every system operation and data structure.

“Smart phones are essentially becoming regular computers,” said Professor Vinod Ganapathy of Rutgers’ School of Arts and Sciences.

“They run the same class of operating systems as desktop and laptop computers, so they are just as vulnerable to attack by malicious software, or ‘malware.’”

The researchers deliberately infected smartphones with rootkits to demonstrate how an attack on a smartphone could be used to eavesdrop on a user, track the movements of the owner via GPS, or rapidly drain the smartphone's battery to render it useless.

These actions could happen without the owner being aware of what happened or what caused them.

But the researchers point out that they have not employed vulnerabilities in current smartphones -- they deliberately infected the devices in order to assess the potential threat.

“What we’re doing today is raising a warning flag,” study co-author Professor Liviu Iftode said.

“We’re showing that people with general computer proficiency can create rootkit malware for smart phones."

"The next step is to work on defences.”