A security software company called Lookout has warned users of an extremely dangerous Android malware that has the ability to kill infected phones.
The notorious Android malware can virtually take over any user’s phone by rooting itself in the handset’s operating system, making it impossible for any user to kill off or even delete the said malicious software.
The malware — referred to by Lookout as a trojanized malware — roots users’ phones without their permission, allowing it to embed itself in the mobile phone’s operating system without the users’ knowledge.
Once the malware is rooted into the phone’s OS, it becomes extremely difficult for the users to remove the unwanted software.
Users of affected phones only have two choices in order to get rid of the unwanted Android malware permanently: it’s either they change their handset’s ROM completely — something that even advanced Android users are unlikely able to do — or they will have to replace their handsets entirely.
Lookout has warned that the trojanized malwares are usually masked in the phone’s OS as any of the popular apps most downloaded by Android users — including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Candy Crush — making it extremely difficult to detect the presence of the notorious malware.
The apps where the Android malwares hide work exactly the same as the real ones, which makes it even more difficult for users to detect whether or not their phone’s operating system has been infected.
Trojanized malware-infected phones can download and install apps without the user’s consent, and are usually flooded by unwanted advertisements.
Experts advise users to try to delete or uninstall the apps suspected of carrying the malware in order to confirm whether or not the app is infected. Apps infected with the trojanized malware can neither be uninstalled nor deleted.
Android users are advised to download and install apps only from secure app stores such as Google Play and Amazon, as the software security company has detected that these trojanized malwares are usually embedded in applications downloaded from third party app providers.