How to Remove Agent Smith Virus from your Android Device

How to Remove Agent Smith Virus
from your Android Device?
Guide to Remove Agent Smith Virus
Cyber-security is one of the major concerns that the world is dealing with today.
Devious variants of Ransomware, Spyware & Viruses seem to sprang up every
now & then, to steal personal information of the users & extort money from them.
While renowned cyber-security firms assure that most of such issues are under
control, the attack of Agent Smith Virus melted the veil away.
Agent Smith Virus is a new variant of android phones malware that surfaced to
lime-light last week. It has infected over 25 Million Android users around the
globe so far, including 15 million mobile devices in India.
This new advertising malware is targeting the infected devices with dubious &
malicious pop-up ads, when the users open the apps.
Reports by Check Point, an Israel-based IT firm, states that Agent Smith Virus is
propagating its infection through the unverified apps that are available on thirdparty app stores.
Threat Summary
Name
Agent Smith
Category
Malware
Type
Virus
Targeted Operating System
Android
Symptoms
Appearance of dubious ads while using
Whatsapp, Flipkart, Twitter.
What is Agent Smith Virus & its Threat Behavior?
Agent Smith Virus, a new kind of advertising malware, is taking over Android
Devices at an alarming rate. It has been specifically created to target Androd
Devices with dodgy pop-up ads & generate illicit revenue in return.
Reports claimed Check Point to be the whistle-blower for this Android Malware. It
is an Israel-based cyber-security firm that conducted detailed analysis of this
malware’s threat behavior.
The analysis revealed that Agent Smith Malware is spreading its infection via
third-party App Stores such as 9apps.com & exploiting known vulnerabilities of
Android devices. The virus takes cover in the photography & gaming apps
available on third-party app stores.
The Virus has infected over 25 Million Android Users world-wide, including 15
Million in India, 300,000 in the United States, 137,000 in the United Kingdom.
Other countries that have been impacted by Agent Smith Virus include Pakistan,
Australia & Bangladesh.
Keen observance of Check Point team found that users often tend to allow “All”
the permissions to the applications while installing this app. The hackers behind
Agent Smith Virus take leverage of incautious attitude of mobile users.
The Agent Smith Virus Attack consists of three-stage infection:
1). The attack initiates with the app downloaded from third-party app store. These
applications, typically, are dubious versions of the legit apps that are laden with
advertising malware.
2). Once the user downloads & installs these apps, Agent Smith Malware leverages
the permissions given to the app. It gets installed on the device simultaneously &
renames as a Google-related application to get an “authentic” look. These names
may include Google Updater, Google themes, Google Powers & Google Installer
for U. By exhibiting its association with Google, this devious virus escapes
detection.
3). Thirdly, the core Android Package File (.apk) of the malware extracts a list of
installed apps on the device & scans it for the targeted app. The virus injects
malicious code & ad modules to the .APK Files of the app when found. This way it
infects the legit applications to serve pop-up ads whenever the user opens it.
Some of the legitimate apps such as Whatsapp, Flipkart & Opera Browser have
been reported to be replaced by the malicious versions to serve ads. As per the
researchers, the ads are not malicious. However, the ad fraud scheme initiated by
the hackers will have them earn money for every intentional/unintentional click on
the injected ads.
Not only this, the attack of Agent Smith Malware may also lead to cyber-security
breach, eavesdropping and data theft & banking credentials theft.
Google’s Reaction to the Advertising Malware Attack:
Though the malvertising scheme has been initiated from a third-party app store, the
official Android App Store wasn’t untouched.
The researchers found around 11 infected apps with malicious yet dormant code
components on the Google Play Store. The malicious components were found
associated with the Agent Smith Virus actor.
As soon as Google realized the impact of the malware it took countermeasure step
& removed malicious applications from the Play Store. The Agent Smith virusladen apps are no longer available for download.
Some of the malicious applications that have been removed by the Google include
• Ludo Master - New Ludo Game 2019 For Free
• Angry Virus
• Rabbit Temple
• Sky Warriors
• Shooting Jet
• Photo Projector
• Cooking Witch
• Clash of Virus
Distribution TechniquesThe researchers have found that Agent Smith Malware has been around since
January 2016. The hackers behind Agent Smith Virus began plotting an array of
dropper apps by taking cover in third party App Store- 9apps.com, thus making it
the prime distribution channel.
9apps.com is a third-party App Store that is typically used to download
modified/cracked versions of software.
The dropper applications available on the 9apps contain Agent Smith Virus
masqueraded as free gaming apps, photography apps & some adult-entertaining
applications.
When these virus-laden apps are downloaded & installed on a user’s phone, it
searches for legit applications on the device such as Whatsapp, MX Player,
Flipkart and Shareit. When found, it inserts malicious codes in .APK Files of the
apps.
The applications are then replaced with its malicious versions to serve dubious
pop-up ads, whenever user opens the application.
How to recognize if your Device is impacted?
Identifying the presence of Agent Smith Malware on your Android Device is fairly
simple. Following are the check-points that you may refer to, to detect the new
advertising malware on your smart-phone.
• The legit apps such as Whatsapp & Facebook do not serve ads. In case you
are observing a large number of unwanted ads being served via Whatsapp,
Facebook, Twitter & other legit apps, your device may be under the attack of
Agent Smith Virus.
• Some of the trusted applications may exhibit unexpected behavior & drain
battery of the device.
• Open Google Play Store & go to Play-Protect Option. Check if any of the
applications installed on your device is flagged as harmful. If any flagged
application is found, it shows the application is malware-laden.
How to Remove Agent Smith Virus from your Android Device?
STEP A: Uninstall Suspicious Application from Google Play Store
1). Open Google Play Store on your device.
2). Click on (≡) given at top-left of the screen.
3). Find “Play-Protect” from the list & click on it.
4). Look for the applications that are flagged as harmful by the Play-Protect.
5). Uninstall the harmful applications, if any, until “No Harmful apps found”
displays.
STEP B: Delete the Suspicious Application from the Android Device
1). Open “Settings” on the smart-phone & go to “Apps” section.
2). Look for the suspicious program such as Google Updater, Google Themes,
Google Powers and Google Installer for U in the list of Applications.
3). Click on “Uninstall” to delete the application from the device.
STEP C: Reset the Android Device.
1). Go to “Settings on your Android Device
2). Now go to “System Settings”.
3). Find the option “Backup & Reset”. Back up your data (Images, Videos,
Documents and Installed Applications) on a backup account (e-mail or Google
Drive).
4). Once the backup of your data has been created, click on “Factory Data Reset”.
5). A confirmation option will appear. Click on the option to proceed with resetting the device.
How to prevent Agent Smith Virus from infecting your smart-phone?
Following good cyber-security practices & being cautious while surfing net &
downloading/installing applications, may help prevent Agent Smith Malware
infection:
1). Do not use third-party App Stores to download applications (modified/cracked
versions). These App Stores may offer an .APK File of a paid application for free.
However, please note that nothing is free in today’s digital world, somewhere
someone is befitting from it.
2). Always download applications from the Official Android App Store – Google
Play Store.
3). Avoid downloading gaming/photography apps from unknown sources.
4). If you observe legit applications installed on your device are exhibiting
unexpected behavior /displaying ads, delete them immediately. Install them again
from Official Android App Store Only.
5). Keep your Android Device System & installed-applications updated to the
latest version.
6). Use a reliable mobile antivirus to scan your android device regularly & keep the
threats away, such as Vipre, Kaspersky & BULL GUARD.
7). Enable the Ad-Blocker on the browser you use to browse on your Android
device. This will help you stay protected from infuriating adware.
8). Ensure “security options” given in the Play-Protect are enabled. This will help
Google to check your device, prevent & warn you about the potential harm from
the applications.
9). Be careful while installing an application on your Android Device. Do not give
unnecessary permissions to the apps outside its usage. Avoid installing such apps.
10). Remove the applications that have been marked as harmful by Play-Protect,
immediately. Be vigilant & do not give any room to the hackers to succeed in their
fraudulent schemes.
Resource Link : https://www.virusremovalguidelines.com/virus/howto-remove-agent-smith-virus-from-your-android-device