Andreed continues to strengthen, security experts are sounding the alarm

“Adware Andreed already boldly ranks among the long-term malicious codes for smartphones with the Android platform in the Czech Republic. And the fact that it strengthened a bit again in February shows that the attackers have no need to replace it with another threat yet,” warned Jirkal, head of the analytical team at the Prague research branch of Eset.

Users can most often encounter Andreed adware if they download apps and games outside of the official Google Play store. Their motivation in most cases is that apps and games are free in third-party stores and various online repositories. In February, Andreed was most widely spread through a fake version of Car Factory Simulator.

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Safety

Risk to children

“Precisely popular games for free or under other advantageous conditions can be a great attraction even for the smallest users,” Jirkal explained why this uninvited visitor is doing so well in Czech conditions.

Andreed belongs to the malicious code of the adware type. Therefore, the attackers do not try to steal any sensitive data through it, but they display excessive advertising on the attacked machine, from which they subsequently profit. Adware attacks are not as devastating as in the case of extortion viruses or similarly insidious malicious codes, but they can still make the use of phones and tablets very unpleasant.

“Adware, as a type of cyber risk, displays a lot of aggressive pop-ups, has a negative effect on the performance and endurance of the device, and ultimately can show the user a link to a dangerous website,” the security expert added.

Attacks in waves

Andreed is attacking in waves in the Czech Republic, which domestic users could see for themselves during the second half of last year. In July, its share of detections among other threats reached 13.69%, in August it was only 11.41%. In both months, he was even second in the viral statistics.

However, in September, this uninvited visitor shot up to 17.35%, which secured him a commanding first place. The other malicious codes only had a share in percentage units. Although the share fell to 15.98% in October, the number of detections increased again to 16.29% in November.

The December drop to 13.47% thus evoked that Andreed is on the decline again. But new data from security experts from the antivirus company Eset makes it clear that this uninvited visitor is gaining strength again, albeit slowly. In January, the number of detections jumped upwards to 14.77%, in February it was 15.26%.

How to protect mobile phones and tablets?

Cyber threats are also increasingly affecting mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Few people bother with the security of these devices. That is why hackers attack mobile devices more and more often.

It is therefore very important to protect tablets and smartphones with antivirus programs and other security tools, not just PCs. Special programs can protect against such uninvited guests. In addition to classic antiviruses, these are, for example, applications that focus only on spyware and the search for Trojan horses.

Only one security program of its kind should be installed on a mobile phone or tablet at a time. Two antiviruses on a disk can do some nice mischief. However, antivirus alone is not a guarantee of safety.

Updates are also very important, because computer hackers very often use errors in the operating system and various programs to sneak in uninvited visitors.