QMobile’s Parent Company Gionee Has Been Planting Malware in Smartphones - Android

Chinese phone maker Gionee has been planting malware on millions of phones to earn money through unsolicited ads and other… Read More

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Chinese phone maker Gionee has been planting malware on millions of phones to earn money through unsolicited ads and other malicious activities without the user’s knowledge. The news comes from a Chinese court after it published its verdict on Gionee’s case.

Shenzhen Zhipu Technology Co. Ltd is a sub-company of Gionee that has been planting a trojan horse on phones through a software update using the “Story Lock Screen” app. The malware affected 21.75 million smartphones worldwide which earned the company around $4.2 million. The expenses in the period were just below $1.3 million.

The first few devices under this “Dark Hose Program” were affected back in December 2018 and the job was carried out until October 2019. Xu Li, Zhu Ying, Jia Zhengqiang, and Pan Qi were some of the employees that were found guilty of this malicious activity. They have been sentenced to 3 to 3.5 years in prison with over a $30,000 fine each for illegally controlling mobile devices.

With this discovery, it seems that it is a common practice for cheap Chinese smartphones and other companies to be involved in malicious activities. Some of the names on this list include Tecno, Infinix, QMobile, and now Gionee has made its way to the list as well.

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