'Ghost Push' Trojan in Android apps

摘要

What happened? The number of Android devices infected by the vicious Ghost Push Trojan hit 900,000 after it spread through apps on the Google Play Store. As a rule, apps on Google's official store are safe because they are vetted for malware before being allowed on. But Ghost Push has penetrated Google's defences to such an extent that phones and tablets in 116 countries have been infected. Discovered in September by security experts at Cheetah Mobile, Ghost Push obtains root control of the devices it infects, making it almost impossible to remove. The Chinese hackers operating the malware can force the device to open adverts and send text messages to expensive phone numbers, making them around $4m a day, according to Cheetah.