Virus Apps

Discussion in 'Tech Talk' started by Test, Apr 8, 2014.

  1. Test

    Test Hardcore

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    So this is a rant thread if you will, i can't tolerate this bs omg #boom
    So last night as i've been browsing the android market i found this app which looked like a Truck Simulator driving game,i installed it without really looking at comments/rating it had a 3.5/5 rating and saw like 10 k downloads so went for it knowing it might be a decent game or something cause the screenshots looked appealing.

    After i download and install the app i realize that my phone is full of ads everywhere,and force closed my applications all the time had to restart phone.
    After restart,every app i entered has been force closing by itself couldn't even browse the internet anymore,after i uninstalled the app same thing happened,i tried everything without result.
    Little did i know this wasn't such a big issue,as the one that was about to come,after i rebooted my phone once again i couldn't get into the menu anymore,it was stuck in the restarting screen.
    I had nothing to do but to reset my phone from scratch(factory data reset) to get rid of the virus or whatever caused this problem which basically deletes all of my data images,music,apps,porn.
    I'm sure that it was due to that app that contained viruses which destroyed my phone's software inside out requiring a reset.

    This is my warning to everyone,be careful when installing new applications,cause this is the thing that can happen to you,and my pain now i wish to none of my friends.

    Stay safe!
     
    #1 Test, Apr 8, 2014
    • Informative Informative x 2
  2. Bottswana

    Bottswana And that's the way the cookie crumbles.
    Staff Member Co-Owner Universal Staff Discord Staff Donator

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    Watch your permissions. Always
    The one that did this is called 'Draw over other apps: This app wants permission to draw over other applications or the system UI'

    Unless you were running a very old version of the Android OS then the app you downloaded wasn't a virus. Essentially, Android applications are sandboxed by Dalvik, the Android JRE. Each app runs in its own little circle and is unaware of other applications around it or the system OS.

    The only thing I can think of is the application in question hooked startup permission as well and used that to prevent other applications from starting, or system services, but even that isn't normally possible.
    Preventing the launcher from starting or causing a boot loop is nearly impossible.

    What version of Android is your phone running? It's either rooted or you have some serious bugs in the underlying OS for this to be possible.
     
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    #2 Bottswana, Apr 9, 2014
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2014
  3. Test

    Test Hardcore

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    As i never cared about my phone's android software it's the default version 2.33 which is probably really old to secure permissions on apps or w/e.
    The reason why i believe this app has affected my phone is because before the app was installed nothing has happened whatsoever,i never had any issues,what are the odds to get such problems after an app setup?
    Also my version is on default,not rooted it's the original one installed i never rooted it.
    If it's not a virus than this app has had permissions enabled? which screwed my os from working properly?
     
    #3 Test, Apr 9, 2014
  4. Bottswana

    Bottswana And that's the way the cookie crumbles.
    Staff Member Co-Owner Universal Staff Discord Staff Donator

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    It's very surprising I have to say. There's been some controversy over an 'Anti-Virus' app on the play store that thousands of people bought that did absolutely nothing but turn a box 'green' and said 'Your device is secure!' every now and again. Essentially that is because apps can't access other apps space.

    I can only assume that the app had the 'Access Filesystem' permission and then screwed with some files. But even that is suprising as the core OS files are marked as 'root'. Which means your device would need to be rooted in order for them to be editable from any application.

    No application running on a non-rooted Android phone should be able to modify the OS in this manner. I can only assume that this particular edition of Android OS that you were running had a security exploit that was discovered and used in this application to elevate permissions or to perform other undesired operation on the OS.

    Do you know which application it was that you installed? Can you link it to me on the Play store? I'm very curious because, as a developer, this shouldn't be possible.
     
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    #4 Bottswana, Apr 10, 2014
  5. Test

    Test Hardcore

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    Apparently the app has been taken down the market.
    When searching on Google you can find it,and see the description + rating.
    [​IMG]
    Then after you click on the link you get this.
    [​IMG]
    The game basically is a massive scam there is no game,it has adds,and makes your android phone not work properly anymore,it's the purpose of the app,at least they've taken the app down,perhaps they realized the actual content of the app and enough reports have been made.

    Also regarding your previous reply Botts,i completely agree as there can be no other explanation and counting the fact that you're a coding expert and have knowledge regarding applications and such there is no other way this can be put.
    Probably the 2.33 version had been cracked and able to manipulate the os with w/e os/apps out there to create errors and cause problems,or found an error in security as you said.

    App can be found at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sfgsdfgdsddfg.dfdfg.trucksimuliator
    Or google "Truck Simulator 4D"
     
    #5 Test, Apr 10, 2014
  6. Bottswana

    Bottswana And that's the way the cookie crumbles.
    Staff Member Co-Owner Universal Staff Discord Staff Donator

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    I never questioned that you were right, It's just very interesting to see someone defeat the protections only to have their product pulled so quickly. I'm sure it's objective was not to brick your phone like you experienced but to insert their advertisements everywhere like it did at first in order to make money from the advert display. Who knows.
    Lets see if the source code turns up somewhere to see what they actually did.

    Looks like it was an unofficial app that had been floating around in the underground of unofficial android apps for a while, and someone just put it on the market.
    Looks like it's main purpose was to gain access to your information (Probably to sell it on to someone for cash) and inject adverts into everything.
    http://www.avgthreatlabs.com/virus-and-malware-information/info/android-airpus/
    http://www.avgthreatlabs.com/virus-and-malware-information/info/android-apperhand/
     
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    #6 Bottswana, Apr 11, 2014
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2014
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