A recent report from security company G Data has revealed an alarming detail about Chinese mobile clones. It is specifically the Chinese mobile Star N9500 , a clone or a cheap replica of the Samsung Galaxy S4, which is said to come with malware installed from the factory.
G Data would have received negative reports from users about this phone, which is why the firm chose to buy it on one of the web pages that offered this device. After several days of analysis, they confirmed that the device had spyware (a type of malware or spyware) installed on the operating system.
Said malware remains hidden from users and is not easy to identify, as it appears to be camouflaged within the device’s Google Play or Play Store application. According to the report, this spyware, or spyware, would be embedded in the Star N9500 firmware, so it cannot be uninstalled by the user.
Regarding what it does, well, it would be able to steal the user’s personal data stored on the device (include possible credit cards and sensitive information typed on the mobile here), intercept calls and emails, and even activate the camera and the team microphone.
All this spied information is apparently sent to an anonymous Chinese server, through which the installation of other irregular applications on the mobile would also be generated.
The Star N9500 is basically a Chinese clone of the Samsung Galaxy S4, which is currently being marketed in Europe at a price of less than 200 euros.
The information G Data has provided about this device indicates that it is a phone without a specific manufacturer’s label (Star is not an identifiable brand). In other words, the origin of it is not exactly known, therefore, all those Chinese clones that do not have the guarantee of a brand behind can have such problems. Note: established Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, IUNI or Jiayu should not be included here. The latter are brands that really exist and that have a reputation to care for.
It’s certainly not the first time you’ve heard of mobile devices coming with factory-installed malware to spy on users. This has not only happened with these Chinese devices but also with world-renowned brands (let’s not forget the famous event about «Carrier IQ»). Despite this, in the case of Chinese clones, computers without a real brand behind, the danger of information plagiarism and privacy violation is much greater. What is even worse, these types of problems cannot be reported as there is no entity that can be held accountable.
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