Communications of the ACM
'Unkillable' Android Malware Gives Hackers Full Remote Access to Your Phone
The xHelper malware uses a system of nested programs that makes it extremely hard to root out, even after a system restore, according to a researcher at cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab.
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Igor Golovin, a researcher at cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, found that the xHelper malware uses a system of nested programs that makes it extremely hard to root out, even after a system restore.
xHelper often is distributed through third-party stores disguised as a popular cleanup or maintenance app to improve a device's performance.
When the malware is installed, it downloads a "dropper" trojan, which collects information on the device and installs another trojan.
The second trojan downloads exploit code that gives it root access to the device.
Said Golovin, "Using a smartphone infected with xHelper is extremely dangerous. The malware installs a backdoor with the ability to execute commands as a superuser. It provides the attackers with full access to all app data and can be used by other malware too."
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