No, we haven’t just dropped into the Matrix and no, Keanu Reeves, although breathtaking, won’t save you from the Agent Smith Malware. In short, new Malware affecting mobile devices, dubbed as Agent Smith Malware, has recently surfaced and infected over 25 million devices.
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This is according to a press release by security firm Check Point, which explains that the Agent Smith malware searches for typical apps on your device and changes them to malicious versions, with fake advertisements, all to make money off unsuspecting users. Check Point’s head of mobile threat detection research, Jonathan Shimonovich, explained that:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#33fff9″ class=”” size=”22″]The malware attacks user-installed applications silently, making it challenging for common Android users to combat such threats on their own. Combining advanced threat prevention and threat intelligence while adopting a ‘hygiene first’ approach to safeguard digital assets is the best protection against invasive mobile malware attacks like “Agent Smith”. In addition, users should only be downloading apps from trusted app stores to mitigate the risk of infection as third party app stores often lack the security measures required to block adware loaded apps.[/perfectpullquote]
At the time of writing, the Agent Smith Malware has infected over 25 million devices, 15 million of which are based in India. However, that is mostly in regions like US, Europe and Australia. No specific mention of South African was given. This malware gets on your device if you use third-party app stores, with 9App specifically mentioned.
For those who don’t want Agent Smith on your mobile device, changing your apps and causing all kinds of chaos, I would suggest you steer clear of third-party app sites for a while. The report by the security firm did mention that Check Point has worked closely with Google and right now, no malicious apps remain on the Play Store.
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Do you use third-party app stores and have you run into any glitches in the Matrix lately? Let us know in the comment section below.
