In September 2015, Cheetah Mobile Security Research Lab warned
Android users against a new type of malware affecting devices called ‘Ghost Push’
- a stubborn Trojan which is nearly impossible to remove. Multiple variants of
this dangerous virus have been discovered and so far this malicious code has
affected more than 900,000 Android users (ranging from 2.3.4 to 5.1) in over
116 countries. Experts from the Cheetah Mobile Security Research Lab found that
behind this virus family is an illegal mobile marketing industry chain who make
4.05 million dollars every day.
India is among the
major regions that is being affected by this virus with 158,729 devices being
infected. While globally Samsung suffered most, in India Micromax had around
55,444 devices being infected. This is followed by 19,984 HTC and 9,905 Samsung
devices. Globally, Ghost Push has infected 10,000 phone types and
2,742 brands.
According to Cheetah
Mobile, this Trojan mainly resides in popular games, tools and social software,
including Talking Tom3, Super Mario, Amazon, and more. Cheetah Mobile experts
believe that the attack might originate from China. So far, virus samples have
been found in Google Play, Aptoide, mobogonie and other popular app stores.
The
virus developers have repackaged popular apps and injected malicious code and
ad components into them. The repackaged malicious apps are then released into
legitimate app markets and made available to massive numbers of users who are
keen to download these (disguised) popular apps. According to Cheetah Mobile,
these developers can make an average of $1.50 every time the virus installs an
application on a smartphone.
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