Gadgetory

Android users there's a new malware on the block called hummingbird it was first spotted by security company checkpoint in February 2016 it starts as a drive-by download attack where it tries to gain root access to an Android device if that doesn't work the malware tricks users into granting hummingbird system-wide permissions once it's on the device hummingbird force downloads acts and clicks on ads this makes sense considering it was created by a group of developers working alongside a Chinese advertising firm called Ying mob so far it's estimated that 10 million devices have been infected with the majority of those in China and India in the u.s. there are 280 8,000 compromised devices to put this all into perspective though as of September 2015 there were 1.4 billion active Android devices worldwide hummingbird also targets earlier versions of Android like KitKat and jellybean rather than later iterations like a lollipop and marshmallow so far the security firm hasn't offered a solution for identifying or removing the malware from infected devices and Google hasn't yet released a statement