Yesterday we highlighted Android malware that enabled the attacker to monitor, listen to and potentially watch every move, message or call the target makes. Today, focus is on a new generation of malicious adware that cannot be deleted from the Android device: ever. Mobile security experts, Lookout, have been researching the rise of malicious adware families for the past year, and yesterday announced that it had some 20,000 instances of "auto-rooting adware" masquerading as legitimate apps such as Candy Crush, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp. Usually applications are not allowed to access the files created by other applications, however with root access, those limitation are easily bypassed. Lookout researchers discovered these adware, which they dubbed Adwaita after its creator, in an analysis of more than 100 million Android devices running version 4.4.4 KitKat released last month.
Yesterday we highlighted Android malware that enabled the attacker to monitor, listen to and potentially watch every move, message or call the target makes. Today, focus is on a new generation of malicious adware that cannot be deleted from the Android device: ever. Mobile security experts, Lookout, have been researching the rise of malicious adware families for the past year, and yesterday announced that it had some 20,000 instances of "auto-rooting adware" masquerading as legitimate apps such as Candy Crush, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp. Lookout researchers discovered these adware, which they dubbed Adwaita after its creator, in an analysis of more than 100 million Android devices running version 4.4.4 KitKat released last month.