Agent Smith is a new smartphone malware that has been found to infect 25 million devices globally that includes 15 million devices in India, as per Check Point Research.
What does Agent Smith malware do?
The malware disguises itself as a Google related app that then replaces the installed apps with malicious versions using Android vulnerabilities without even the user getting to know. Apart from this, the cyber threat intelligence firm has issued the three most active malware active in June that includes Lotoor that is used for displaying ads and is able to access sensitive user data as well.
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According to Check Point Research press note, Agent Smith malware uses its access to Android devices that show fake ads for financial benefits and can also be used for treacherous plans, but it's unclear if the malware has been doing the same or not.
As per Check Point Research notes Agent Smith resembles other malware like Gooligan, CopyCat and HummingBad that have used infected devices to generate fake ad revenue.
The research firm notes that Agent Smith began on a third-party app store 9Apps has targetted Hindi, Arabic, Russian and Indonesian speakers, of which major malware's victims are based in India other neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. The firm has also found these issues with devices in countries like the UK, USA and Australia.
List of some Apps used to infect devices via 9Apps store are as follows-
- Color Phone Flash – Call Screen Theme
- Photo Projector
- Rabbit Temple
- Kiss Game: Touch Her Heart
- Girl Cloth XRay Scan Simulator
Not just this, right after the initial attack vector using 9Apps, the creators of Agent Smith then went to Google Play Store where it was pushed to at least 11 malware-laden apps in the store, which include apps like
- Cooking Witch by Ghost Rabbit
- Blockman Go: Free Realms & Mini Games by Blockman Go Studio
- Ludo Master – New Ludo Game 2019 For Free by Hippo Lab
- Bio Blast – Infinity Battle: Shoot virus! by Taplegend
- Angry Virus by A-Little Game
- Shooting Jet by Gaming Hippo
- Clash of Virus by BrainyCoolGuy
- Gun Hero: Gunman Game for Free by Simplefreegames
- Crazy Juicer – Hot Knife Hit Game & Juice Blast by Mint Games Global
- Star Range by A-little Game
- Sky Warriors: General Attack
Google has taken down all apps from the Google Play Store, however, if you have any of these apps installed, chances are that your device is infected with Agent Smith malware.
Users having this app can remove it by going to Settings > Apps followed with uninstalling the app.
The Check Point Research says that Android users should only download from trusted app stores to download apps, as third-party apps could lack in security measures for blocking adware loaded apps.
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