Android users, more than billion of them have been given a big scare owing to the new malware in town. The latest security alert comes via Microsoft’s team which has discovered a new flaw that can give hackers the full control of your device. The security alert comes for a malware called Dirty Stream that can be as dangerous for the users as malware comes.
Android Dirty Stream Malware Threat: What It Can Do
The security threat connects to the part of Android which allows apps to talk with each other and enable sharing files. This aspect of Android apps is called ContentProvider system which is the reason why your phone could be controlled by a hacker.
The system has a specific security measure which ensures that apps are not able to misuse this power. But the vulnerability can be exploited in exactly this fashion which will surely be of concern to billions of Android users.
If the malicious apps manage to bypass your phone’s security and appear to run like a legitimate app, chances are the infection would have already caused the damages you dread. “Arbitrary code execution can provide a threat actor with full control over an application’s behavior,” Microsoft talked about in its post, while also warning about your sensitive data in danger of being accessed.
Android Malware Issue: Which Apps Are The Culprit?
Microsoft has stated that it has observed apps on the Play Store that have exploited the issue and the worrying part about these apps is that they have 4 billion installs which is a staggering figure.
The company also pointed out that two apps are particularly being targeted, one of them being File Manager from Xiaomi that has 1 billion+ installs and WPS Office that shows 500 million installs. The good news is that both these apps have been secured with latest patches but even then we highly recommend millions to delete these apps right away.
Android malware threat is real and the only way to avoid falling for these attacks is that you download apps via the Play Store only. Keep Play Protect enabled for your account and not to sideload apps on an Android phone.
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