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fliptop writes:

Google has filed a lawsuit against the Badbox 2.0 botnet operators, after identifying over 10 million infected Android devices:

These devices lack Google's security protections, and the perpetrators pre-installed the Badbox 2.0 malware on them, to create a backdoor and abuse them for large-scale fraud and other illicit schemes.

While updates to Google Play Protect kept the malware away from devices running Google services and automatically blocked associated applications, the fresh lawsuit is meant to help the internet giant dismantle the criminal operation behind the botnet.

Badbox 2.0 "is already the largest known botnet of internet-connected TV devices, and it grows each day. It has harmed millions of victims in the United States and around the world and threatens many more," Google notes in its complaint, a copy of which was shared with SecurityWeek.

[...] According to Google, Badbox 2.0 is operated by multiple cybercrime groups from China, each having a different role in maintaining the botnet, such as establishing infrastructure, developing and pre-installing the malware on devices, and conducting fraud.

Originally spotted on Schneier on Security.

Previously: Thousands of Android Devices Come With Unkillable Backdoor Preinstalled

Original Submission