{"id":70472,"date":"2017-03-16T11:33:34","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T18:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=70472"},"modified":"2025-08-31T20:06:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T03:06:57","slug":"pre-installed-malware-android-devices-expose-flaws-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/mobile-security\/pre-installed-malware-android-devices-expose-flaws-supply-chain\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-Installed Malware on Android Devices Expose Flaws in Supply Chain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pencils come with erasers, books come with pages, and taxes (most of the time) come with returns. People like it when good pairs are bundled together in any deal, and that includes bundles in technology. A lot of devices we enjoy today come with pre-installed software. Most of the time, this pre-packaged software is designed to give users a sample of potential goods for their new device or simply enhance the device\u2019s usefulness. Sometimes, however, things go awry\u2014and malicious programs make their way onto devices before they even reach consumers. This is what\u2019s known as a supply chain attack\u2014and it\u2019s currently playing out on 36 types of Android devices<\/a> used by a large telecommunications company and multinational technology company.<\/p>\n

To conduct this large scale attack, cybercriminals somehow managed to install several malware<\/a> variants on devices somewhere along each device\u2019s supply chain. The malware is varied, and include everything from data siphoning to ransomware<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, according to Ars Technica<\/a>, some of these devices are infected with malware that sits on its ROM (read-only memory), meaning that users can\u2019t wipe the malware from their devices on their own. Using this \u201cbackdoor<\/a>,\u201d cybercriminals can expand control over a device, install additional malware applications, quietly disable security software and cause general havoc for users.<\/p>\n

The troubling takeaway is that consumers shouldn\u2019t assume devices aren\u2019t necessarily \u201cclean\u201d and devoid of malware even if they\u2019ve never been used before. If this attack had been repeated on an industry scale then, potentially, thousands of consumers are at risk.<\/p>\n

Tips to Detect Malware<\/h2>\n

So what can you do if you suspect your new (or old) device is infected with malware? Well, here are a few tips:<\/p>\n