BENGALURU: ILOVEYOU! Code Red! Melissa! Sasser! Zeus! Conficker! Stuxnet! Mydoom! CryptoLocker! No, these are not some new internet slangs, and neither are we suggesting some new characters that can be casted in a Star Wars movie. These are some deadly malwares which have been affecting our lives.

Computers have been vulnerable to malware and virus attacks since its advent. From home desktops to the White House internal server, viruses have not spared anyone. The world has stood witness to the dreadful virus attacks for the last two decades. According to a security firm CheckPoint, another malware which has joined the aforementioned list is “HummingBad”. The malware has already affected almost 85 million devices running on Google's mobile operating system. The security company further claims that the majority of the HummingBad victims are in India and China, as reported by The Times of India. Almost all Android OS versions are being affected by this malware but Android KitKat and Android Jelly Bean versions are at the top of the most-affected version.

The virus attacks the users’ device when they try to visit certain malicious websites. The attack happens in two steps. First step involves trying to gain root access on the device of the user and exploit any possible vulnerability that is present. The first step is enough to give hackers full access to the device. But in case the first step is not successful due to none vulnerabilities present, the second step is initiated. This step tricks users to unknowingly grant system-level access to the HummingBad malware by showing a fake system update notification.

When the data of the users is being accessed by the hackers which data can not only be used to generate fake ad revenue, but also can be sold to other companies.

Google has yet to issue guidance regarding the detection and removal of HummingBad. We will update this story if it does.

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