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Consumer Products => Avast Mobile Security => Avast Mobile Security for Android => Topic started by: Baltazar on August 14, 2012, 01:24:28 PM

Title: Urgent to get rid of malware or virus on an infected tablet missed by Avast!
Post by: Baltazar on August 14, 2012, 01:24:28 PM
2012-08-14

Urgent!
Can someone at Avast, with exceptionally good knowledge of trojans, malware and virus, please take a good look at this, and come back with a solution – to get rid of a serious problem. I hope this is in your interest, to have good products that really work, and therefore I hope you make your best to really look at this problem, and fix it before it maybe hits all Android-users, making hundreds of thousands devices not usable.

Problem description further down.

Virus or malware which has taken over my tablet.

Can you please fix your products so they work, or tip which programs or/and tools there is that get rid of virus and malware on mobile Android devices that allready are infected, and how to install these tools on an already infected device.
The problem can be to install anti virus tools after the device already has been infected.

Tablet
Info about the tablet (which is infected with some kind of malware or virus):
Asus TF300, WiFi, 32Gb (and at the moment no extra SD-card and no 3G)
Android 4.0.3
I have the password protection activated (I have to use my password to login to the device)
Free Avast! Mobile Security installed (earlier I had free AVG, installed since I bought the device, but I changed to the free Avast! and uninstalled AVG after the device got infected).
Android Assistant installed (to clean cash and system memory)
I continuously update the tablet, OS and applications, and Asus had not the latest Android-version 4.0.4, fore distribution to my device a couple days ago when my tablet still worked fine. I therefore still use Android 4.0.3.
I normally use the tablet for free games and Internet surfing. I have a lot of games from Google Play installed, which is the only site I download and install from.

Mobile phone
Info about my mobile Phone (the phone is working fine, and has no problems)
I normally use my mobile phone, Ericson Neo with Android 4.0.3, as a mobile wifi hotspot to reach Internet from my tablet. The mobile phone is not rooted, has the free version of Avast installed since yesterday, and earlier I had the free version of AVG, but I changed because the problems with my tablet. Since I bought my tablet, I normally don’t use my mobile phone any more for downloading and playing games directly to/on the mobile phone, even though I´v still have 20 odd games still on the mobile phone. I have a 8Gb SD-card installed in the mobile phone, and I normally move everything to the SD-card using Android Assistant, leaving the built in memory in the mobile phone almost clean.
I use Android Assistant continuously to clean cash and system memory.
I continuously update the mobile phone, OS and applications.

Problem description
Some kind of virus or malware has overtaken the device, since a couple of days back. I don’t know what it is, and the free versions of AVG and Avast don’t find any threats or problems….
•   The evil program tries to log on to my device when I start the device. I can see that I tries to get thru my login password protection, where I normally type my password. It hasn’t got threw my password protection by itself. But if I try to compete with the evil program, to type my password, I win the struggle after minutes of competing struggle, and can login to the device.
•   The evil program than takes control of the device, goes thru all menus and programs, tries to start wifi, if I have stopped it, tries to exchange networks to one that is near, starts games and other programs, and so on….. and it works fast, giving me no time to do anything myself. I can just watch the evil program work…
•   The evil program goes threw all menus for all programs, and changes functions everywhere.
•   In some cases I can regain control, by holding down some menu or function, and at the same time change a function I want to change, but the evil program soon takes control again, changing everything again….
•   Everything I try to do, takes me several minutes to try, and soon hours have gone by, but the evil program takes over again.

The only thing I can doo is to se the evil program going threw my device, and the only way I can stop the evil program, is to shut down the device.

My device has worked fine for months, since I bought it. I installed AVG Free Antivirus directly when I bought the device, have updated it, but after months of good functionality the device finally got infected anyway…..
Because the evil program, what ever it is, is so quick and evil, I can’t control the device at all. The program has taken over, so I can’t do anything with my device.

I have a lot of free games installed from Google Play, and the problems occurred after installing the latest two games, two days ago:
Where’s My Perry? Freehttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.disney.WMPLite&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kaXNuZXkuV01QTGl0ZSJd
Absolute RC Plane Sim
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rcflightsim.cvplane2&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5yY2ZsaWdodHNpbS5jdnBsYW5lMiJd

Maybe the problems came with the above, but it could have come from earlier installations….or other sites on the Internet.

Some sites on the Internet tell us to uninstall the latest programs you installed, to try to locate and get rid of evil programs, malware and virus. The problem is how to do that when the device is so badly infected that you cant do anything with it but looking at how it is taken over by an evil program…..

There must be some program/s that I could boot the device from, or which could be run from Internet, and which detect the evil program/s and destroys it/them, without destroying other good installations on the device.

The problem is to know which programs or functions there is to use, how to use them when the device already is infected so bad that the device is overtaken of an evil program, so you can’t do anything your self.


My own test
Last night, I successfully installed the free Avast! Mobile Security onto the device, as a test to get rid of the problem. It was a struggle and war against the evil program, that has taken control of my device.
My way to install Avast was to use my desktop computer with fully uppdated Win 7 Ultimate, updated free versions of ZoneAlarm and AVG, logging on to Google Play with the account I use only with my tablet, and downloading Avast, which Google Play than automatically forced down to my tablet, which normally use the account.
The download to my tablet worked. Avast installed itself onto the device, and after a long struggle against the evil program I want to get rid of, I could secure a password to the Avast-program, so the evil program couldn´t change or uninstall it.
However the Avast did not locate any problems using the scanner, so the evil program is still on my tablet, and still causing damage and frustration.

I still don´t know what the evil program is, what it is called, and how to get rid of it. I still haven’t found a look alike problem on the Internet????!!!
I can buy full versions of all tools for malware and antivirus, but I have no guarantee that any of the programs will work, so I won’t do that.

I will now try to install other anti virus and anti malware tools the same way, to see if any other program will kill the evil program. Every tool I try, will take me some hours to try, because that the evil program on my tablet has nearly total control of the device, giving me very little room to work…….

Please continue to tip me whenever you have got more info about how I can get rid of the evil program.



Title: Re: Urgent to get rid of malware or virus on an infected tablet missed by Avast!
Post by: Filip Havlicek on August 14, 2012, 03:07:49 PM
Hi,

I have never seen such a malware on Android and my personal opinion is that it is very unlikely you would be the first (and so far only) infected. What came to our mind is that maybe your touchscreen is faulty and is generating random touch events so it seems it tries to accomplish something, but is more of a senseless tapping. If your warranty still applies, can you go to the store you bough the device from and tell them you think your touchscreen is faulty so they have a look at it from a hardware point of view?

Filip
Title: Re: Urgent to get rid of malware or virus on an infected tablet missed by Avast!
Post by: Baltazar on August 14, 2012, 06:06:25 PM
Hello Filip,
Thank you for your answer, with your enlightening and constructive thinking. Maybe you are right. I have had that thought before, but sorted it out of my mind earlier, because I thought that I could se that the evil program (if there is any) used different characters and numbers trying to login (after I had struggled against the evil program to alter so characters can be seen). The evil program also checked and unchecked many checkboxes, trying it’s way threw the system and every program and functions. The evil program even activates and deactivates wifi networks the tablet can reach.
However, I will go back to my store, and try to make them understand that this can be the hardware problem, as you suggest, and maybe I will get it fixed on the guarantee.
Before I go back to the store, I will try to contact Asus support by e-mail (if it’s possible), and se what reaction I will get. Maybe they agree with your diagnose, and want me to visit my store with the faulty or damaged tablet.
In my thoughts, this still is an evil program, and I don’t think I will be alone with this problem – It will be a pandemic problem. I hope you are right, and that I am wrong.
Have my thread open, and please be alert on likewise problems, and let me know....
I’l be back soon, after contact with Asus.
Title: Re: Urgent to get rid of malware or virus on an infected tablet missed by Avast!
Post by: Baltazar on August 16, 2012, 06:35:35 PM
Hello again, Filip.
After e-mail contact with Asus, I did a factory reset, but the persistent, evil, annoying and frustrating problem is still active, taking over the device. I can’t even begin configurating/installing the tablet choosing country and keyboard before the evil problem takes over again…..!!??

The factory reset didn’t work, so I will now go back to the store, to get my tablet fixed or exchanged on the guarantee.

Hmmm, maybe it is hardware related, or maybe it is an evil malware or virus.......?

…..evil and annoying thing…...
Title: Re: Urgent to get rid of malware or virus on an infected tablet missed by Avast!
Post by: Filip Havlicek on August 16, 2012, 06:54:40 PM
Hi,

thanks for the update. I really think it's the touchscreen so good luck at the store.

Filip