Jordan O'BrienInstallers beware – customers sporting Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Sticks may be infected with malware. In fact, it may not just be Fire TV owners, as a piece of Android malware called ADB.miner is affecting a whole raft of Android devices, with Fire TV owners the latest to be caught up in the mess.
It may not be immediately noticeable, but the malware installs an app that users haven’t opted to install themselves. On the Fire TV, the app is being called ‘Test’, with the package name ‘com.google.time.timer’. If your customer has this malware installed on their device, then there’s some bad news. Not only does this malware use the device to mine cryptocurrencies, but it also attempts to spread itself to other Android devices on the same network.
How Do I Know If My Customer Has Malware?
If your customer has used apps solely installed from the Amazon App Store, then they should be good to go. That’s because it’s reported that the malware is appearing from apps that have been sideloaded onto the devices themselves. Typically, this is through apps created for the purpose of watching pirated movies or TV shows – something that shouldn’t be prevalent among customers.
There is a chance that the malware has still made its way onto the device, however. That’s because it attempts to spread through the network, and even if the device doesn’t have sideloaded apps, it could still be infected. To find out whether it is or not, then there are a few things to do.
Firstly, has the customer reported a slower device? If apps are taking longer than usual, then it could be that the malware has struck. As the worm is mining for cryptocurrency, it will attempt to use 100% of the device’s processing power, meaning everything else will be slowed down. A big telltale sign will also be if a screen saying ‘test’ with a green Android robot icon occasionally pops up on the device.
There are a few ways to be sure, however. According to AFTVNews, the best way to locate the problem is to install an app called Total Commander from the Amazon App Store. From here you can search through the installed apps and see if there’s an app called ‘test’. If there is – then it’s bad news for your customer.
How To Get Rid Of The Malware
The quickest and easiest way to get rid of the malware, is also the nuclear option. That’s because it involves a factory reset of the device, which will be 100% effective (if it hasn’t spread to other devices on the network). To ensure its effectiveness, every other device should be disconnected from the network, and have their power sources taken out. Then one-by-one go through all the devices and reset them.
Installers could also uninstall the malware itself, which can be done with the Total Commander app, or simply install a custom version of the malware that doesn’t mine for cryptocurrency. Full details on this method can be found on AFTVNews.