Experts at Kaspersky Lab have warned of the spread of a new type of software virus that can be installed on new Android devices during the manufacturing process.
According to experts at the company, the new software virus, dubbed "Keenadu," has been discovered on more than 13,000 smartphones worldwide, 9,000 of which are in Russia. It was also discovered on phones sold in Japan, Brazil, and the Netherlands. As a result, users may face the risk of purchasing a new device that has the virus pre-installed on it.
Manipulating the number of visits to advertising links and displaying full-screen advertising banners.
Granting third parties complete remote control over the smartphone.
Infecting the applications on the phone and installing malicious files of the (apk) type.
Granting any application any permissions (such as access to the camera, microphone, geolocation...etc.).
Theft of personal data, including photos, videos, documents, passwords, location history, banking details, and text messages.
Kaspersky Lab experts also noted that the virus is capable of tracking search data in the Google Chrome browser on phones and sending that data to third parties.
Experts believe the virus may have infiltrated smartphones through unreliable manufacturers in one of the links of the device components supply chains. They emphasized that users cannot currently verify that their device is not infected with this software when purchasing it, and this problem can only be solved by the manufacturers themselves, by tightening control over all stages of production.
