App disguised as firmware update for Samsung phones causes problems in the devices

More than 10m smart-phone owners recently got tricked into downloading one phony Samsung app that is called "Updates for Samsung" which supposedly offers firmware updates, however, actually diverted the owners onto certain website filled with advertisements while asked to pay to get firmware downloads. CSIS Security Group's malware analyst Aleksejs Kuprins has shown how over 10m users have installed the "Updates for Samsung" app taking it down from Google Play Store, an indeed authorized source.

The app exploits the fact that people find it problematic getting updates of firmware as well as operating systems (OS) compatible with Samsung mobiles, thus the numerically large end-users who downloaded it.

Reviews pertaining to the app indicate complaints by hundreds of end-users about the website being an ad-infested place browsing which doesn't provide things they look for. At this point the app performs its sinister function while does not crash. The website indeed provides paid (lawful) along with free firmware updates for Samsung, however, requiring harvesting source code of the app.

Further, violating rules of Google Play Store, the app runs its own style of collecting payments abandoning the one which is practiced on the authorized store. That way, some third-party logs into or intercepts the end-users' payment data.

Kuprins elaborates that people shouldn't be judged for inadvertently visiting Play Store to get updates for the firmware having acquired new Android phones. That's because vendors often package Android operating software they have on offer with a daunting quantity of programs, while such can easily induce confusion.

In his confirmatory statement Kuprins says the app in discussion doesn't have any association with Samsung. He says when his team performed tests, they also noticed that there were no end of downloads despite working with a trustworthy network. www.indiatoday.in posted this, July 6, 2019.

It is reported that the app as well takes end-users onto a service which asserts towards unlocking SIMs in smart-phones upon making a payment of USD19.99. In this connection some reviews by end-users posted on the Play state the app made their device unstable leading to overheating, rapid rebooting, calls left incomplete along with other problems.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/17/2019