Online Sense is ICDL Arabia's philanthropic arm aimed at raising public awareness on Cyber Safety.

Used to be that Malware attacked your phone or computer from browsing the net and opening dubious sites. There’s a new breed of Malware, which comes pre-installed in phones. Now, that’s saving you the trouble of even having to browse the net or use an infected flash drive to get malware!

This Malware is an adware named Cosiloon; it was unmasked by experts at cybersecurity firm Avast. An adware is somewhat like any other software you install on your phone, and its sole job is to flash annoying ads on your phone screen! Companies use adware to forcibly show people their ads; what’s a better way to show it right on the phone home screen?

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According to security experts, the malware was found on hundreds of Android phones with owners in the UK, US, Germany, Italy and Russia among those affected. UAE residents need not worry as of now!

In April this year, around 18,000 phones in these countries have been found pre-loaded with Cosiloon.

Avast reported the findings of their research to Google who have ”taken steps to mitigate the malicious capabilities of many app variants on several device models, using internally developed techniques.”

Avast said the malware was discovered on budget smartphones with the majority of them not certified by Google.