This is worrying. According to German research firm G-Data, the malware is not being installed by the Asian manufacturers but somewhere between the completion of manufacturing and the physical shipping of the phones. "Someone is unlocking these phones, installing the malware on them and locking them up again," says G-Data. The malware tends to get hidden within widely used apps such as Lenovo and can be used to perform a number of functions in the background that will not be seen by the user, such as to access the internet, read and send sms messages, send contact lists, read emails, and monitor and record voice conversations. The brands impacted include Facebook, Huawei, and Xiaomi.
This is worrying. According to German research firm G-Data, the malware is not being installed by the Asian manufacturers but somewhere between the completion of manufacturing and the physical shipping of the phones. "Someone is unlocking these phones, installing the malware on them and locking them up again," says G-Data. The malware tends to get hidden within widely used apps such as Facebook and can be used to perform a number of functions in the background that will not be seen by the user, such as to access the internet, read and send sms messages, send contact lists, read emails, and monitor and record voice conversations. The brands impacted include Lenovo, Huawei, and Xiaomi.