Khaberni - Experts at Kaspersky Lab warn of the proliferation of a new type of malware that can be installed on new Android devices during the manufacturing stage.
According to company experts, the new malware, called "Keenadu", was discovered on more than 13,000 smartphones worldwide, nine thousand of which are in Russia, and has also been found in phones sold in Japan, Brazil, and the Netherlands. As a result, users may face the risk of buying a new device that already has the virus pre-installed.
What can the "Keenadu" virus do:
Manipulate the number of visits to advertising links and display full-screen advertising banners.
Grant third parties full remote control over the smartphone.
Infect existing apps in the phone and install malicious files of type (apk).
Grant any app any permissions (such as access to the camera, microphone, geographic location...etc).
Steal personal data, including photos, videos, documents, passwords, location history, banking details, and text messages.
Kaspersky Lab experts also noted that the virus is also capable of tracking search data in the Google Chrome browser on the phones and sending that data to third parties.
Experts believe that the virus could have infiltrated smartphones through untrustworthy manufacturers in one of the supply chain links for hardware components. They confirmed that users currently cannot verify that their device is free of such software at the time of purchase, and this problem can only be solved by the manufacturers themselves, by tightening control at all stages of production.
