“Godless” malware can affect 90% of Android devices, installs unwanted apps

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“Godless” malware can affect 90% of Android devices, installs unwanted apps
Researchers at security intelligence blog Trend Micro have discovered a new version of mobile malware “Godless” that targets devices running Android 5.1 Lollipop or earlier. Unfortunately, that means almost 90% of all Android devices used worldwide are vulnerable to the threat.

Godless is similar to an exploit kit, having multiple exploits, and uses an open-source rooting framework called android-rooting-tools. This is what the company had to say in its official statement regarding the newly found threat:



According to Trend Micro, upon gaining root privilege, the malware can then be remotely controlled to silently install unwanted software on the affected device, or even worse – to spy on the user.

Malicious apps using older versions of the Godless contain a local exploit binary, which uses exploit code from the android-rooting-tools framework. Once the app is downloaded, the malware waits until the affected device's screen is off to begin the rooting process. Once it's done, it then drops a payload as a system app in the form of an AES-encrypted file called “_image”. It cannot be easily removed.


However, the new variant of Godless is “made to only fetch the exploit and the payload from a remote command and control (C&C) server.“ Experts believe that this is so that the malware can bypass security checks done by app stores such as Google Play.



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The aforementioned app seems to have been removed from Google Play. Trend Micro goes on to warn:



When downloading apps, regardless of their nature, you should always do a quick background check on the developer. It sounds tedious, we know, but it's a good idea nonetheless. Unknown new developers could be a source of malicious apps, Trend Micro warns. Dwonloading a trusted antivirus app might also be a good idea, as well as avoiding apps from untrusted sources.

source: Trend Micro

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