Do you own an Android Smartphone?
Hackers can install malware through an app on your smartphone remotely, even if you press the app's dismiss button.
Security researchers have discovered a family of trojanized adware that has the ability to automatically install an application on an Android device by abusing the operating system's access credentials.
Michael Bentley, head of mobile security, warned in a blog post published on Thursday that the team has found three adware families:
- Shedun (GhostPush)
- Kemoge ( ShiftyBug )
- Shuanet
All three of these adware families infect devices in order to prevent their removal and give attackers unrestricted access to the mobile device's data.
However, it seems that the Shedun adware family has capabilities that exceed the capabilities of other adware families. It is more powerful.
The good news is that this malware does not transmit any vulnerability.
During installation, applications from the Shedun adware family trick users into granting them access to the Android Accessibility Service, which aims to provide users with alternative ways to interact with their smartphone devices.
Once Shedun has access to your mobile phone, it can:
- Read the text displayed on the phone screen
- Determine the immediate installation of the application
- Move to the license page and accept the terms
- Finally, press the button and install this application without any physical interaction from the user.
The Trojan app on the Google Play Store pretends to be a regular app and tricks the user.
The worrying thing is that the Shedun virus cannot be easily uninstalled. The malware takes root in the victim's system and integrates itself into the system. The virus remains even after the user attempts to delete or reset the device to factory settings.
Users should be especially careful when surfing the internet, and using some applications such as the Google store or third-party app markets.
