Nude wallpaper apps infect thousands of Android devices with malware

Thousands of Android devices are thought to have been infected by a strain of Chinese malware which sends costly SMS messages to earn cash for its creators.

Some reports have claimed that over 500,000 Android devices are infected with the malware, which is detected by Sophos’s free Android anti-virus as Andr/SMSZomb-A.

Users are tricked into believing that they are installing GIF wallpaper onto their Android device, and a provocative message is shown suggesting that a secondary app is installed that would allow permanent use of the images…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.