Surprisingly, a virus might be on your device without you knowing. According to Kaspersky Labs, Dvmap is primarily targeting mobile devices. It is different from all other malware we know because dvmap has the ability to trick Google the protector.
Kaspersky has been monitoring the distribution of a Trojan horse in the Play Store since April this year. By regularly swapping clean code with malicious code and vice versa, dvmap has been able to hide from Google’s protection and verification mechanisms, meaning the Bouncers which was introduced in 2012 to keep malware from the Play Store, can be tricked easily.
According to experts, this malware classified by Kaspersky Labs as Trojan.AndroidOS.Dvmap.a is a particularly tricky form of malware. It tries to gain root access in four different ways, even with 64-bit compatible code. Worse, it injects malicious code into system libraries libdmv.so and libandroid_runtime.so. The Trojan horse has an administrator service called
com.qualcmm.timeservices which looks similar to a legitimate background service like com.qualcomm.timeservices. And with this, the malware triggers protection mechanisms to verify and install third-party apps.
It is advisable to note the difference between the two aforementioned service names, as it is a common route which hackers and malware advertisers uses to trick users into trusting them. And with this, the malware could install third-party software on infected devices at a later date. The author could offer this ability to anyone interested, on the black market. So far, only a maximum of 50,000 devices are reported to be affected.
WHY DVMAP IS CONSIDERED HARMFUL
Google can theoretically delete harmful apps remotely from your device. However, since the malware manipulates system libraries, it could prevent Google from being able to do so, or report the uninstallation immediately to the malware’s author. The author could then install a different version of the malware to escape the protection mechanism again.
PREVENTION
The only way to prevent this from happening is to have the latest security patches. However, not everyone gets the updates, as manufacturers fear that if they do so they will not buy new phones. But ensure your apps are up to date. Refrain from the habit of downloading or collecting apps, music, files etc from untrusted sites, phones or PC.
CURE
Formatting the system partition and reinstalling the original firmware can - so of now - save a smartphone affected with dvmap.
Kaspersky has been monitoring the distribution of a Trojan horse in the Play Store since April this year. By regularly swapping clean code with malicious code and vice versa, dvmap has been able to hide from Google’s protection and verification mechanisms, meaning the Bouncers which was introduced in 2012 to keep malware from the Play Store, can be tricked easily.
According to experts, this malware classified by Kaspersky Labs as Trojan.AndroidOS.Dvmap.a is a particularly tricky form of malware. It tries to gain root access in four different ways, even with 64-bit compatible code. Worse, it injects malicious code into system libraries libdmv.so and libandroid_runtime.so. The Trojan horse has an administrator service called
com.qualcmm.timeservices which looks similar to a legitimate background service like com.qualcomm.timeservices. And with this, the malware triggers protection mechanisms to verify and install third-party apps.
It is advisable to note the difference between the two aforementioned service names, as it is a common route which hackers and malware advertisers uses to trick users into trusting them. And with this, the malware could install third-party software on infected devices at a later date. The author could offer this ability to anyone interested, on the black market. So far, only a maximum of 50,000 devices are reported to be affected.
WHY DVMAP IS CONSIDERED HARMFUL
Google can theoretically delete harmful apps remotely from your device. However, since the malware manipulates system libraries, it could prevent Google from being able to do so, or report the uninstallation immediately to the malware’s author. The author could then install a different version of the malware to escape the protection mechanism again.
PREVENTION
The only way to prevent this from happening is to have the latest security patches. However, not everyone gets the updates, as manufacturers fear that if they do so they will not buy new phones. But ensure your apps are up to date. Refrain from the habit of downloading or collecting apps, music, files etc from untrusted sites, phones or PC.
CURE
Formatting the system partition and reinstalling the original firmware can - so of now - save a smartphone affected with dvmap.
Hnmm! Very tricky something!
ReplyDeleteTufiakwa
Thanks for d update TP
ReplyDeleteThanks Gideon. Nice update you got.
ReplyDeleteNew malware everyday. One has to be careful
ReplyDeleteYea! Very careful
DeleteThanks for the update bro.
ReplyDelete