If until recently it was rare, today, with the spread so far that smartphones are having, hackers have refined their attempts to spread malware on Android mobile devices, cellphones and tablets. There is talk of Android both because they are more popular than iPhones and other models, and because Android is a more free and open system, which is good for those who love customizations, less good for those who want full security.
Android malware can install itself quite easily by browsing the internet and accidentally clicking on a full-screen advertisement that installs the infected application.
Those who enable installation from unknown sources and those who download apps from stores that are not on Google Play are also at risk.
Those who have a smartphone unlocked with root risk enormously more and just think that an app, using root permissions, can even unlock the phone locked with a PIN, delete internal data or steal passwords from private accounts.
Basically, even if without being too anxious and without exaggerating with caution as it is right to do with a computer, today it is good to be careful of viruses and malware on your smartphone.
There are various types of malware in general and we have seen what malware is and the differences between viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware in another article.
The malware on Android smartphones are not very different from those on the computer even if they infiltrate in different ways, with much guilt on the part of users.
Depending on the type of malware, the smartphone's performance may drop dramatically, personal data may end up in foreign hands, there may be password theft on the phone or ransomware that take the smartphone hostage, perhaps preventing it from going on the internet if you don't pay a hostage.
1) Starting from the latter, let's see what malware can affect an Android smartphone and how to avoid or remove them if we find them inside.
Smartphone ransomware, for now, aren't as bad as computer ransomware.
On PCs, a virus like Cryptolocker takes computer data hostage, making it illegible without a password that must be requested for a fee.
On Android, malware can block a function with a trick, perhaps by changing only the default search engine in the browser, trying to create a trap that, in reality, is easily removable with a reset of the browser or, in the case, of the phone.
A type of malware of this type, called Svpeng, is capable of blocking access to Google Play making it impossible to download direct antivirus applications that can remove it.
Each blockage leads to the request for a ransom described by the appearance of a fake message on the screen with a personal complaint from the police.
2) Apps that install without user consent
There are applications and websites that use very invasive advertisements that almost force the user to install an application with a simple touch on the screen.
If the smartphone has an Android system with version 4.3 or lower, it has a vulnerability which leads it to be more fragile and suffer the installation of apps without consent.
The vulnerability lies in the internal Webview component that allows applications to open websites.
The attacker could exploit this vulnerability to automatically install any application they want on the device.
Even on the most modern devices, with Android Kitkat 4.4 or Lollipop 5 and later, one must be careful when visiting particular sites, piracy or streaming, where viruses find very fertile ground.
Everything that seems to want to be installed must therefore be denied and closed.
3) PowerOffHijack is a very special malware that deserves a special mention: it practically simulates the turning off of the mobile phone while leaving it still on.
The virus can be secretly used to make calls, take photos and other things without any proof.
PowerOffHijack only affects phones with Android 5.0 and above that have been granted root access.
This is malware that you don't need to worry about (unless you randomly download apps from a Chinese store), but which provides a great example of what can happen.
4) Applications with dormant malware
In February 2015, it was discovered that some legitimate Android applications were actually hiding malware that was waiting to bring advertising pop-ups, hijacked web pages and illegal processes in the form of other apps to the screen. .
This type of malware seems to be recognizable by the fact that every time you unlock the phone a warning of a bogus problem appears that warns the user of an infected, outdated or unprotected phone etc.
Today Google has suspended these applications from the Google Play Store and protected the system from this type of code.
5) Sexual deceptions
Smart cybercriminals in South Korea have created fake profiles of attractive women on social networks to attract people to cybersex, then persuade them to install a chat app that is malware.
The criminal uses the stolen information with the virus app to force the victim to pay for it if he does not want an intimate video to be spread to all his friends and relatives.
6) Android Installer Hijacking
Almost 50% of all Android devices are at risk of a vulnerability called " Android Installer Hijacking ": when you go to download a legitimate application, the installer can be hijacked by installing a different app in its place.
This occurs in the background, masking the various permissions requested.
This vulnerability only affects apps downloaded from different stores than Google Play.
7) Adware
They are not malware, but there are many applications on the store that, legitimately, continuously display advertising on the screen in the form of notifications, banners and invitations to install sponsor apps.
Conclusion
Today we need to worry about malware on Android phones "> antivirus for Android.
