SMS Observer: A dynamic mechanism to analyze the behavior of SMS-based malware

•SMS Observer, an Android dynamic analysis framework to analyze SMS-based malware.•Allow an app in an emulator to send and receive SMS to and from a real smartphone.•Maintains the integrity of system logs for further analysis on the server side.•Figures how to detect an app executed in an emulator and to prevent such evasion.•More effective in detecting SMS-based malware than existing frameworks.