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Android smartphones are under threat from spyware.
16 thousand smartphones running Android OS were infected with malware pre-installed in the firmware of the devices. According to experts, the malware could have been installed on the phones during the manufacturing process in China.
The virus's purpose is automated illegal SMS registration in car sharing services, illegal surveillance and theft of user credentials. Zombie devices could also participate in fraudulent schemes with promotion in social networks and be part of click farms.
The following brands and models of devices were affected: ZTE (Blade 3), MiOne (P1, R5, R3, Hero 5), Meizu (V8), Huawei (Mate 20 Pro, P9, P20 Pro, Honor (5X KIW-TL100 and others)).
According to Eset, the activity of spyware on various devices increased by more than 20% between September and December 2021. As the company found out, Russia became second after Indonesia in the number of Android smartphones infected with this malware. Moreover, some experts believe that 16 thousand is only the official figure. In fact, in Russia this figure may reach 116 thousand.
According to Trend Micro research, there are services that openly offer to register accounts in car sharing services. For example, subscribers of one of these Telegram channels used this service when renting a car sharing car to avoid liability in the event of an accident.
Another way malware is used on smartphones is through mobile app ad fraud: click bombing, device ID resets, and device ID spoofing. For example, according to AppsFlyer, ID reset ad fraud accounted for about 26% in 2018. By that time, many advertisers and app developers had suffered from it and lost about $1 billion.
There are more and more commercial developers selling spyware and other malware every year. They offer their services not only for digital fraud, but also for spying on people. This is the so-called stalking software. Fraudsters clone real applications and distribute malicious software through unofficial marketplaces.
However, it is worth recalling that installing spyware on a device without the owner's knowledge is a criminal offense, classified under Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the inviolability of private life" and Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the secrecy of correspondence and telephone conversations", which may entail a punishment of two years in prison. The developers of stalking software can be held liable under Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Creation of malicious computer programs" and receive a term of up to four years.
Since responsibility for software production and installation is divided between different suppliers in China, it is not so easy to find out and track the moment when devices are infected with malware. It only takes one employee to have access to the code to turn thousands of smartphones into digital zombie spies.
16 thousand smartphones running Android OS were infected with malware pre-installed in the firmware of the devices. According to experts, the malware could have been installed on the phones during the manufacturing process in China.
The virus's purpose is automated illegal SMS registration in car sharing services, illegal surveillance and theft of user credentials. Zombie devices could also participate in fraudulent schemes with promotion in social networks and be part of click farms.
The following brands and models of devices were affected: ZTE (Blade 3), MiOne (P1, R5, R3, Hero 5), Meizu (V8), Huawei (Mate 20 Pro, P9, P20 Pro, Honor (5X KIW-TL100 and others)).
According to Eset, the activity of spyware on various devices increased by more than 20% between September and December 2021. As the company found out, Russia became second after Indonesia in the number of Android smartphones infected with this malware. Moreover, some experts believe that 16 thousand is only the official figure. In fact, in Russia this figure may reach 116 thousand.
According to Trend Micro research, there are services that openly offer to register accounts in car sharing services. For example, subscribers of one of these Telegram channels used this service when renting a car sharing car to avoid liability in the event of an accident.
Another way malware is used on smartphones is through mobile app ad fraud: click bombing, device ID resets, and device ID spoofing. For example, according to AppsFlyer, ID reset ad fraud accounted for about 26% in 2018. By that time, many advertisers and app developers had suffered from it and lost about $1 billion.
There are more and more commercial developers selling spyware and other malware every year. They offer their services not only for digital fraud, but also for spying on people. This is the so-called stalking software. Fraudsters clone real applications and distribute malicious software through unofficial marketplaces.
However, it is worth recalling that installing spyware on a device without the owner's knowledge is a criminal offense, classified under Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the inviolability of private life" and Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violation of the secrecy of correspondence and telephone conversations", which may entail a punishment of two years in prison. The developers of stalking software can be held liable under Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Creation of malicious computer programs" and receive a term of up to four years.
Since responsibility for software production and installation is divided between different suppliers in China, it is not so easy to find out and track the moment when devices are infected with malware. It only takes one employee to have access to the code to turn thousands of smartphones into digital zombie spies.
