Security News > 2020 > July > ‘Undeletable’ Malware Shows Up in Yet Another Android Device

Security researchers have identified yet another Android-based mobile device available through the government-funded Lifeline Assistance Program pre-loaded with malware, a discovery adding evidence to the disturbing trend of smartphones infected with undeletable malicious code upon purchase.

Hard on the heels of research exposing the prevalence of pre-installed adware on Android devices, researchers at Malwarebytes Labs found an American Network Solutions UL40 device running Android OS 7.1.1, preloaded with compromised Settings and Wireless Update apps.

Curiously, the malware that researchers found on the UL40 device is the same as the malicious apps that Malwarebytes researchers discovered on the Unimax Communications U683CL Android device in January.

In the meantime, researchers offered a workaround to stop the UL40 device's Wireless Update HiddenAds infection by uninstalling the app using a similar method Malwarebytes already created to remove the adware Adups from Android devices.

Research by Kaspersky Labs found that many Android devices - especially low-cost devices - harbor pre-installed default applications that are undeletable, providing a way for malware to hide and persist on the device using a system-partition infection.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/undeletable-malware-yet-another-android-device/157289/