SmsZombie, the Android virus that manages to steal money and make fraudulent payments, has spread rapidly.
New vulnerabilities are emerging on smartphones equipped with the operating system Android: a virus called “SmsZombie” has spread rapidly, especially in China.
There is already talk of an epidemic: the virus has indeed affected more than 500,000 devices, directly causing monetary loss for users.
Yes indeed: the SmsZombie virus directly attacks the available credit on the SIM card, making fraudulent payments.
Apparently, the virus was uploaded directly to the Chinese Android Market, disguised as harmless wallpaper apps.
Once one of the available wallpapers is set, the virus automatically activates via a file called “Android System Service.”
To allow the use of wallpapers—often sexy-themed—the app also requests administrator permissions; without them, it cannot be used. From this moment on, the virus literally takes control of the smartphone, executing payments and also reading and scanning the SMS messages present.
The reason is simple: to search for personal information and sensitive data, hoping especially to access bank accounts.
Initial detections about the virus’s movements reveal that SmsZombie works particularly well on smartphones with a SIM card from the telecom company China Mobile: it exploits a flaw in this operator’s payment system to extort money.
Worsening the situation is the fact that, since the virus has effectively become a system administrator, its removal is very difficult and daring: the commands to delete it are hidden. Therefore, a more radical and external intervention is needed.
At the moment, no such cases have been reported in Italy, but it is wise to always keep a close eye when downloading apps of this kind.
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