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Malware Found Preinstalled On 38 Android Phones Used By 2 Companies (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the take-a-hint dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: An assortment of malware was found on 38 Android devices belonging to two unidentified companies. This is according to a blog post published Friday by Check Point Software Technologies, maker of a mobile threat prevention app. The malicious apps weren't part of the official ROM firmware supplied by the phone manufacturers but were added later somewhere along the supply chain. In six of the cases, the malware was installed to the ROM using system privileges, a technique that requires the firmware to be completely reinstalled for the phone to be disinfected. Most of the malicious apps were info stealers and programs that displayed ads on the phones. One malicious ad-display app, dubbed "Loki," gains powerful system privileges on the devices it infects. Another app was a mobile ransomware title known as "Slocker," which uses Tor to conceal the identity of its operators. Check Point didn't disclose the names of the companies that owned the infected phones. Padon said it's not clear if the two companies were specifically targeted or if the infections were part of a broader, more opportunistic campaign. The presence of ransomware and other easy-to-detect malware seems to suggest the latter. Check Point also doesn't know where the infected phones were obtained. One of the affected parties was a "large telecommunications company" and the other was a "multinational technology company."

3 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. If they have no details by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Then most likely it's yet another case of three-letter agencies doing it. They're not exactly fond of things that remove their rootkits after all.

  2. This is an advertisement. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "We won't name the companies or devices"... because this is a FUD driven ad campaign for our services.

    So obvious.

  3. Re: Marketing Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ahh, I missed that he was a Trump advisor AT THE TIME he was doing his little co-ordinating with Guccifer. No wonder he's on RT attacking the CIA.

    Interesting, Carter Page was also on RT, in December 2016... from his Moscow visit, he went to Moscow for a week to meet 'business leaders and thought leaders', announced it, met a bunch of Russians, and went on RT:
    https://youtu.be/4ePHA4f7MNg?t=55s

    Or his July visit which including meetings with Russian intelligence:
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/07/campaign-granted-page-permission-moscow-trip/98874648/

    Which is odd, because this February he said he didn't have any meetings with Russian official in 2016
    https://youtu.be/bsgSl8s2GeM?t=5m25s

    All kinda of coming out in the last few days, since 4th March, yet you were distracted by Trump's allegation against Obama which came out March 4th.

    I see.