Is your phone malfunctioning for no apparent reason? Kaspersky says it may be caused by a mining virus

Kaspersky Lab announced this month that it had discovered a previously undetected Trojan virus called "Loapi." On the surface, this malware is no different from other viruses that have hidden in the Android system in recent years. However, in fact, this malware can run a cryptocurrency mining program on the device until the device completely fails.

Message bombing

Unlike other malware, Loapi did not sneak into the Google Play Store by disguising its true identity, nor did it quietly collect user information and private data from the device. Instead, users can easily be infected by visiting ads on illegal websites, downloading adult apps, and (ironically) fake antivirus software. Once a seemingly harmless app is installed, things can quickly get out of control.

Once the virus-carrying app is successfully installed, it will prompt the user to provide device management authorization. Even if the user chooses to refuse at first, the app will continue to bombard the user with messages until the user gives in and provides authorization.

Once an app is granted administrator privileges, it can freely control the entire phone system. After obtaining permission, the app can independently decide to display advertising slogans and videos, open Facebook pages, and even start cryptocurrency mining while the phone is operating normally, until the phone cannot be used normally.

Mobile mining software

Last but not least, and most worryingly, with Monero mining software infecting websites and computers, it is only a matter of time before mobile devices are affected. Mobile cryptocurrency mining software can cause irreparable damage to hardware, making it extremely harmful. According to Kaspersky's testing, the Loapi virus will cause smartphone devices to overheat due to long-term processor usage. In addition, after the mining software was running for 48 hours, technicians also found that the battery of the mobile phone was slightly cracked.

Kaspersky also stressed that this Trojan can force the device into a botnet, which can eventually cause a DDoS attack (distributed denial of service attack) on network resources. With administrator rights, this malware can open the built-in proxy server and send a large number of HTTP requests in the network.

Kaspersky warns users to be cautious when downloading apps that are not available on the Google Store, and they also recommend that users use regular antivirus software. Although Google does not review apps provided in the store as strictly as App, installing apps from unknown sources always poses a major security risk.

In early 2017, Google announced the Play Protect program to prevent malware from appearing in the store. But if the app is not provided by the Google Store, they cannot guarantee the safety of the software.