What is the virus downloaded by millions of Android users
A warning for all Android phone users has been issued: a strain of malware called FalseGuide has been downloaded on approximately two million devices.
The virus had been hidden in a series of apps from Google Play store between 2016 and 2017, according to the Telegraph. The apps seemed to be guides to other Android games and were said to be developed by Sergei Vernik and Nikolai Zalupkin, fake developer names.
Experts said that once FalseGuide infects a phone, it can not be removed. Victims of the malware have been drowned in adverts. The responsible apps have been removed from the Google Play store.
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It is believed that a team of Russian hackers are the creators of the malware, which they may have designed to create a botnet. A botnet is, according to security firm Check Point, “a group of devices controlled by hackers without the knowledge of their owners.
“The bots are used for various reasons based on the distributed computing capabilities of all the devices.
“FalseGuide can receive messages containing links to additional modules and download them to the infected device.
“Depending on the attackers’ objectives, these modules can contain highly malicious code intended to root the device, conduct a DDoS attack, or even penetrate private networks.”
The security company warns that mobile botnets have increased in number over the past few months: “Users shouldn’t rely on the app stores for their protection, and implement additional security measures on their mobile device, just as they use similar solutions on their PCs.”
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