Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Mobile & Wireless

Android Tablets with Pre-Installed Trojan Sold on Amazon

A nasty Trojan that allows malicious actors to remotely control infected devices has been pre-loaded on many types of Android tablets sold on Amazon and other online stores, Cheetah Mobile has warned.

A nasty Trojan that allows malicious actors to remotely control infected devices has been pre-loaded on many types of Android tablets sold on Amazon and other online stores, Cheetah Mobile has warned.

The Chinese mobile security firm has pointed to many online reviews from people who have purchased tablets infected with the malware. The dates of these reviews show that the threat has been around for many months.

The Trojan, dubbed “Cloudsota,” allows attackers to take control of infected devices and conduct various activities, including install adware and malware, remove security apps, change the browser homepage, hijack search results, push ads via the boot animation and wallpapers, and open applications. Since the threat has root permissions, it can restore itself after a reboot if the user attempts to remove it from the device.

Based on data collected by its product, Cheetah Mobile estimates that more than 17,000 infected tablets have been purchased, but the actual number could be much higher considering that many devices might not have antivirus apps installed. Tablets infected with Cloudsota have been traced to over 150 countries, with the highest number of infections in Mexico, the United States and Turkey.

Researchers have identified more than 30 tablet brands pre-loaded with the Trojan, the most affected being generic brand tablets with Allwinner chips. The list of infected devices includes JYJ 7, JEJA 7 Zoll, FUSION5, Alldaymall Tablet, Yuntab SZ Wave, and Tagital.

Cheetah Mobile says it has notified affected manufacturers and advised them to analyze their firmware, but none of them responded. The security firm says the infected tablets are made by Chinese companies.

Cheetah Mobile says it’s confident that the attackers behind Cloudsota are from China. This conclusion is based on an analysis of Cloudsota code and a server used by the malware, and the fact that the devices are manufactured in China.

Shipping mobile devices with pre-installed malware is not a new phenomenon. A report released in 2014 by mobile security firm Lookout showed that malware had been pre-loaded on phones sold in Asia and Africa. A second quarter report published by G Data in September revealed that malware had been found on over two dozen smartphone models from China.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Related Reading: Rethinking Mobile Security – Why Apps Come First

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Mobile & Wireless

Infonetics Research has shared excerpts from its Mobile Device Security Client Software market size and forecasts report, which tracks enterprise and consumer security client...

Mobile & Wireless

Samsung smartphone users warned about CVE-2023-21492, an ASLR bypass vulnerability exploited in the wild, likely by a spyware vendor.

Malware & Threats

Apple’s cat-and-mouse struggles with zero-day exploits on its flagship iOS platform is showing no signs of slowing down.

Fraud & Identity Theft

A team of researchers has demonstrated a new attack method that affects iPhone owners who use Apple Pay and Visa payment cards. The vulnerabilities...

Mobile & Wireless

Critical security flaws expose Samsung’s Exynos modems to “Internet-to-baseband remote code execution” attacks with no user interaction. Project Zero says an attacker only needs...

Mobile & Wireless

Apple rolled out iOS 16.3 and macOS Ventura 13.2 to cover serious security vulnerabilities.

Mobile & Wireless

Two vulnerabilities in Samsung’s Galaxy Store that could be exploited to install applications or execute JavaScript code by launching a web page.

Mobile & Wireless

Asus patched nine WiFi router security defects, including a highly critical 2018 vulnerability that exposes users to code execution attacks.