Android is the most used operating system in the whole world, hundreds of millions of people use it every day to do whatever they need on their phones, but unfortunately popularity also brings problems. More precisely, a new type of very dangerous malware was discovered for Android by computer security researchers, and because of it it seems that millions of people from over 70 countries are having a lot of trouble this time.
Android is targeted by a malware called GriftHorse, which is hidden in over 200 applications distributed in various application stores, its purpose being to subscribe people to premium services without knowing. By asking for permissions to do various things in Android phones, this malware hidden in apparently harmless applications then subscribes people to premium services via SMS, hiding notifications and messages from them so they don't know their money is being stolen.
Android: IMPORTANT Announcement Affecting Millions of Phones
Android cannot be exploited without users giving permission for these types of malware, and as some of the applications were found including in the Google Play Store, it is easy to understand why the problems affected many people. Considering that more than 10 million people have their phones infected with this malware called GriftHorse, IT security experts are of the opinion that the hackers who exploited Android phones would have stolen millions upon millions of dollars already.
"Recently we discovered an aggressive campaign of premium mobile services with over 10 million victims globally, and the total amount stolen could reach hundreds of millions of euros. While typical premium service scams take advantage of phishing techniques, this particular global scam hid behind malicious Android apps that act as Trojans, allowing it to take advantage of user interactions for increased spread and infection. These malicious Android apps look harmless when looking at the store description and requested permissions, but this false sense of confidence changes when users are charged month after month for the premium service they subscribe to without their knowledge and consent.”
Android allows people to be protected against this type of problem, but they themselves have to be aware of what is happening in order not to risk having their money stolen without realizing where it ends up. Unfortunately, very few people manage to realize in time what is happening, so many end up having their money stolen by hackers, so we have to be extremely careful not to risk ending up in these situations.
Android is an operating system that can provide a lot of security for people, but they also need to want to benefit from it in order not to risk having their money and data stolen.
