Phillips S307 Phone Comes Pre-installed With Virus
Phillips S307 Phone Comes Pre-installed With Virus
If you’re planning to buy a Phillips S307 smartphone, perhaps you should hold off for a while. A report has surfaced indicating the smartphones comes with a nasty Trojan in the Android OS system loader. This was detected by Dr Web, an anti-virus company based in Russia.
The Trojan (Android.Cooee.1) was first detected in October on certain low-end devices from some unknown manufacturers. It was recently found on Phillips S307 and the stock firmware has the virus already pre-loaded.
Android.cooee.1 is a Trojan capable of displaying fullscreen ads and notification ads. It can be used for far more deadly functions but for now, this is all the distributor does. Image credit: Dr.Web
According to the report on Dr Web’s website, this Trojan can’t be removed because it sits right in the firmware. Since it’s from the factory, it’s like a core part of the operating system. Android.Cooee.1 is a Trojan that can be used for several functions. Dr Web reports:
Android.Cooee.1 is a malicious launcher (Android graphical shell) that, apart from its standard functions, displays annoying advertisements and downloads and installs different software. In particular,Android.Cooee.1 is capable of displaying advertisements in the status bar, in full screen, or on top of running applications. It also can show video advertisements and animation on the home screen.
Displaying obtrusive ads is just one of the things the virus can do. Since it’s a system program, the Trojan can install applications without a user’s permission. As a matter of fact, it can collect users’ data, steal personal information and more.
Right now, the virus can’t be removed from the device, it can only be managed. Downloading a 3rd party launcher and setting as default is recommended. It is advised that users should not try to remove the virus by gaining root privilege or risk bricking the device. It’s now up to Phillips to release a firmware update to fix this.
The Trojan (Android.Cooee.1) was first detected in October on certain low-end devices from some unknown manufacturers. It was recently found on Phillips S307 and the stock firmware has the virus already pre-loaded.
Android.cooee.1 is a Trojan capable of displaying fullscreen ads and notification ads. It can be used for far more deadly functions but for now, this is all the distributor does. Image credit: Dr.Web
According to the report on Dr Web’s website, this Trojan can’t be removed because it sits right in the firmware. Since it’s from the factory, it’s like a core part of the operating system. Android.Cooee.1 is a Trojan that can be used for several functions. Dr Web reports:
Android.Cooee.1 is a malicious launcher (Android graphical shell) that, apart from its standard functions, displays annoying advertisements and downloads and installs different software. In particular,Android.Cooee.1 is capable of displaying advertisements in the status bar, in full screen, or on top of running applications. It also can show video advertisements and animation on the home screen.
Displaying obtrusive ads is just one of the things the virus can do. Since it’s a system program, the Trojan can install applications without a user’s permission. As a matter of fact, it can collect users’ data, steal personal information and more.
Right now, the virus can’t be removed from the device, it can only be managed. Downloading a 3rd party launcher and setting as default is recommended. It is advised that users should not try to remove the virus by gaining root privilege or risk bricking the device. It’s now up to Phillips to release a firmware update to fix this.