Android Users Warned of Trojanized Auto-Root Adware

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http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/android-users-warned-of-trojanized/

Security researchers are warning of a new epidemic of 20,000 repackaged apps injected with trojanized Android adware designed to root users' smartphones.
Lookout Security claimed that some of the most popular apps on Google Play including Facebook, Okta, Twitter and WhatsApp have been repackaged, injected with one of three adware families and distributed via third party app stores.
These three families—Shuanet, Shedun and ShiftyBug—are said to share between 71% and 82% of the same code, and use publicly available exploits to root the victim’s device.

The trojanized apps can be tricky to spot given that many are merely repackaged legitimate applications, which retain a full set of functionality alongside the malicious code.

The highest detection rates for the adware are the United States, Germany, Iran, Russia, India, Jamaica, Sudan, Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia, Lookout claimed.

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