Could Cheap Android smartphones increase chances of Malware for low-income people in Botswana?
Last year, the intense U.S.-China trade war became the news, involving Huawei in the middle. Even now, the assertion between the two countries is far from resolving the discrepancy, but the warning that personal information etc. is being extracted without permission using a product of a Chinese manufacturer may not be uncommon. It seems that Chinese malware is pre-installed and distributed in large quantities on smartphones manufactured by Unimax in China.
Multiple malware confirmed on Android smartphones distributed free to low-income earners
Recently Forbes reported about the government and low-income earners in the United States carry out the assistance “Lifeline Assistance” program as part of, Assurance Wireless to distribute free of charge Android smartphones have found multiple malware pre-installed through an app called “Wireless Updates” by a Chinese company Adups, according to the security company MalwareBytes.
Up to now, Adups has been severely accused of embedding malware in cheap Android smartphones and extracting text messages and address book data without permission. It seems that Wireless Update has discovered various features that can be installed without permission from the user.
It has also been pointed out that the “Settings” application on the smartphone in the first place is running “HiddenAds” malware in the background . The Wireless Update mentioned above can be uninstalled by the user, but since the setting is a system application, it cannot be deleted unless special operations are performed, such as obtaining root privileges.
Similar cases occur in low-cost smartphones made in China
Virgin Mobile, parent company of Assurance Wireless, seems to have declined to comment on this matter. However, Nathan Collier, a senior analyst at MalwareBytes, warned that many such cases have been seen in low-cost Android smartphones made by Chinese companies. We are calling attention to the danger that user privacy will be lost at the price of cheap purchase . It has been said that Apple’s products are not cheap, but they are safe in terms of privacy protection, but money may be indispensable in protecting personal information.
