‘Agent Smith’ Malware Were On Millions Of Mobile Phones

Research from Check Point has pointed out that Agent Smith, the latest type of mobile malware, has definitely given the infection to roughly 25 million devices all around the globe; Notably, 15 million devices amongst them are claimed to come from India.

Disguised with the cover of an app related to Google, Agent Smith takes advantage of Android’s well-known vulnerabilities and makes a substitution of malign versions for installed apps without the consciousness of the smartphones’ owners.

Mobile malware Agent Smith makes an approach to smartphones’ resources to present different kinds of deceitful advertisements to receive financial benefits. Nevertheless, there is a likelihood of much more harmful and intrusive purposes behind this malware, including the stealing of banking confidential information or the secret following of mobile conversations. CheckPoints also mentioned that there are many similarities between Agent Smith malware and other precedented mobile malware campaigns, like CopyCat, Hummingbird, and Gooligan.

The Check Point Research also pointed out that the concerned mobile malware, Agent Smith, had the original download from a popular third-party app store called 9Apss. The main targets of this mobile malware are mainly users from Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and India. So far, according to those findings from Check Point, a massive number of victims have their backgrounds from India, in spite of the fact that mobile phones’ owners from other countries in Asia like Bangladesh and Pakistan have also suffered similar impacts.

Check Point Research declared that a great number of smartphones in other countries have also suffered Agent Smith's infection, including the US, Australia, and the UK. According to the research firm, it has worked in a close relationship with Google to make sure that users won't be left with any malicious app on the Play Store.