What is a CopyCat virus that attacks Android smartphones, and how to escape from him

2017-07-11 16:31

What is a CopyCat virus that attacks Android smartphones, and how to escape from him
Mobile virus has already infected millions of devices worldwide.

Virus CopyCat for Android has infected 14 million mobile devices around the world, transmit Ukrainian news. We found out what this virus is and how to avoid infection.

What this virus does

Getting into the software of the mobile device, the virus chooses any contacts and sends them the image. The user who opened the message, it automatically loads the application with the extension apk. The owner of the phone for a long time did not see any changes in his work, and the antivirus programs can not cope with the threat.

CopyCat is embedded in the parent Zygote process, which acts as a template for all Android applications in the system. After that it is free to install additional programs and to show the victim is, which is the main source of income for operators CopyCat. In addition, it can to seize data about the installation of programs on the referral link, thus receiving rewards. The malware used a vulnerability in Android versions 5.0 and below.

Developers are already enriched by $ 1.5 million. Yet most affected people in South-East Asia. The virus is distributed via third-party application catalogues and websites. In this case it’s configured to avoid infection in China. Perhaps the authors of the CopyCat are in China and do not want problems with the local authorities.

CopyCat active for a long time, and the peak occurred in April-may 2016. Then he got on users ‘ devices through the Google Play app store. Then Google has prevented an epidemic of infections, but the virus managed to infect a large enough number of devices I. However, three months ago, the researchers again found traces of activity of the virus, which apparently continued to spread through third-party resources with mobile applications.

Google representatives said that they know about the virus, and their new security feature Play Protect scans and removes such malware.

How to protect yourself

Because the virus affects Android older versions, ideally it is better to upgrade your device to the latest OS version. And given the fact that it spreads via MMS messages, do not open the images and files, at least without specifying the sender what it is and if he really sent you the files.