Switcher Trojan: A New Malware Affecting Android Devices

A new form of malware is now taking over Android devices: Switcher Trojan. This type of malware is distributed through malicious apps that mimic popular apps. The goal of a malicious app is to mirror the appearance and language of a popular app in an app store in order to trick users into downloading it instead of the real app. Unfortunately, users may download a malicious app thousands of times before the app is able to be removed. That’s why you should run regular virus scans on your device for the latest malware. Click here to scan your device now:

Switcher Trojan might be distributed through malicious apps, but it is not designed to specifically attack and compromise your Android device. Instead, the malware is designed to attack Wi-Fi routers and all devices that are connected to your network. The malware fights to gain access to the Wi-Fi network your Android is connected to.

Once your network has been compromised, the malware can change the Domain Name Server (DNS) settings to redirect traffic on your device and every device connected to the network. All traffic on the network will then be redirected to malicious websites, which will leave your device vulnerable to malware, phishing, adware, and etc.

Who is Most Affected By This Malware?

Currently, this specific type of malware has dominantly been reported in China. The malware has been distributed through a malicious app mimicking a popular Chinese app, in addition to a modified URL disguised as a popular Chinese search engine.

This type of malware is especially harmful to businesses (or even home networks), where many, many people all share the same network. Once a network has been infected with the malware, the malware is extremely difficult to remove. One person could, essentially, expose hundreds to this malware. It’s possible that a malicious individual could gain access to a network through a disposable device and then compromise an entire network, too.

This, combined with the massive DDoS attacks as of late, and the ability to easily compromise and weaponize smart devices for cyberattacks, show that cybercrime is only going to strengthen over the coming years. That’s why we need to step up our game when it comes to cyber awareness and cybersecurity methods, on a global, national, and individual scale.