Security research experts at Lookout have discovered a new Android Malware that can potentially grant god-mode privileges for a malicious software belonging to the Shedun family of malware.
These are termed as Aggressive adware/malware that annoys users with tons of ads. The three identified families of malware, namely - Shaunet, ShiftyBug and Shedun, are usually found to be embedded in the fake / look alike versions of popular android apps like Candy Crush, Whatsapp, Snapchat, and many more.
Reports emerged that over 20,000 such apps contain this malware embedded in them, and nearly 1500 - 2000 individuals are seen reporting about the malware every day.
The most frightening fact about this malware family is that once installed, it cannot be removed even after a factory reset. Which means that if users falls victim to this malware, with a phone that has banking related information and other sensitive data, the user might end up losing more than what he could ever imagine. It is learnt that the malware creators have planned well in advance in creating these malwares, which programmatically repackages thousands of apps, while excluding antivirus apps specifically.
Gaining the root access to the phone might put the data privacy at risk, which forces the user to "replace the device to gain control." Interestingly, the researchers feel that two or three groups have been building these apps, with some code resemblance indicating that there might be some sort of relation between the groups. Users from USA, Germany, India, Brazil and many other countries have already been affected largely.