Experts warn cheap Android phones are being shipped with malware built in, so be on your guard
- Budget Android phones shipped with firmware-level malware preinstalled before reaching customers
- Malware generated fraudulent ad revenue and turned infected devices into residential proxies
- Victims spanned 150 countries, with cleanup often requiring firmware-level remediation
Imagine buying a brand new, sealed Android phone, and later realizing it came with preinstalled malware rooted deeply into the firmware and thus almost impossible to remove - generating fraudulent ad clicks for a malicious third party, and even turning the phones into residential proxies to be used for whatever sinister purposes.
Security researchers Bitdefender found an unidentified threat actor managed to compromise the supply chain of multiple smartphone manufacturers and added malware on a firmware level before the devices were even shipped to stores.
A number of brands were mentioned, including Doogee S200 X, Doogee Fire 3 Max, and Cubot KINGKONG X - both Chinese smartphone manufacturers building budget, rugged Android phones.
The reports also...
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