Learn about the CopyCat virus that infected 14 million Android devices!
Researchers in the field of cyber security Check Point Software Technologies that a malicious software campaign called CopyCat infected millions of devices running Android operating system, and collected more than a million dollars through advertising and fraudulent applications.
The malware operation, which peaked in April and May 2016, has spread to as many as 14 million phones and tablets and has received $ 1.5 million within these two months, the researchers said. It seems that the epidemic has spread through third party application stores and phishing attacks, not through the official application of Google Play.
Daniel Padon, a security researcher at Check Point for Fortune, said his team told Google the process in March shortly after it was discovered, and by that time Google had been paying close attention to the problem.
Google estimates that there are still less than 50 devices affected. The giant search company has since adapted its protection measures to prevent malware from gaining a foothold on Android devices, even those that run in older versions.
While CopyCat was in full force, it gained control of more than 8 million devices and used that power to serve more than 100 million phantom ads and install 4.9 million applications on phones and tablets, and generate high revenue for cybercriminals. This malware has made use of a handful of exploits to take advantage of security holes in Android 5 and earlier versions, and then by stealing part of the Android systems called Zygote.
Google spokesman Aaron Stein said the company had been fighting malware like CopyCat for a few years. Google Play Protect, a security feature created by the company in May, scans and removes malicious applications from phones, will now vaccinate phones against this infection even if it is running on older versions of Android.
"CopyCat is one of the broadest family of malware that we've been following since 2015. Every time a new variable appears, we update our detection systems to protect our users," said Stein. "Google Play Protect protects users and will not distribute any application that may be infected with a virus in Google Play.As always, we appreciate the efforts of researchers to help keep users safe."
The malware operation, which peaked in April and May 2016, has spread to as many as 14 million phones and tablets and has received $ 1.5 million within these two months, the researchers said. It seems that the epidemic has spread through third party application stores and phishing attacks, not through the official application of Google Play.
Daniel Padon, a security researcher at Check Point for Fortune, said his team told Google the process in March shortly after it was discovered, and by that time Google had been paying close attention to the problem.
Google estimates that there are still less than 50 devices affected. The giant search company has since adapted its protection measures to prevent malware from gaining a foothold on Android devices, even those that run in older versions.
While CopyCat was in full force, it gained control of more than 8 million devices and used that power to serve more than 100 million phantom ads and install 4.9 million applications on phones and tablets, and generate high revenue for cybercriminals. This malware has made use of a handful of exploits to take advantage of security holes in Android 5 and earlier versions, and then by stealing part of the Android systems called Zygote.
Google spokesman Aaron Stein said the company had been fighting malware like CopyCat for a few years. Google Play Protect, a security feature created by the company in May, scans and removes malicious applications from phones, will now vaccinate phones against this infection even if it is running on older versions of Android.
"CopyCat is one of the broadest family of malware that we've been following since 2015. Every time a new variable appears, we update our detection systems to protect our users," said Stein. "Google Play Protect protects users and will not distribute any application that may be infected with a virus in Google Play.As always, we appreciate the efforts of researchers to help keep users safe."
Learn about the CopyCat virus that infected 14 million Android devices!
Reviewed by Unknown
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Friday, July 07, 2017
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
Friday, July 07, 2017
Rating:
Unknown
Wolfost: Information Specialist Algerian Born in 2004, he started earning money from the internet since 2012 and achieved success in this field and is interested in everything that is new in information technology and professional in the field of profit from the Internet and electronic blogging.
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