Adventures in obfuscated mobile adware Adware is arguably the most prevalent form of malware targeting mobile device users today. Until now, much of the adware we’ve seen has been crudely developed and poorly obfuscated; the “low-hanging fruit” of the mobile malware research community. However, as official app stores like the Google Play Store increase security measures to prevent adware from targeting its users, developers are relying on more sophisticated techniques for hiding their malicious functionality and monopolizing on the profitable out-of-app ad revenue stream. One publicly traded company on the NYSE with a cumulative install base of a half-billion users produced some of the most popular applications on Google Play including “TouchPal”, “Abs Workout” & “Drink Water Reminder”. We’ll look at their attempt to circumvent app store antivirus detections as a case study on the increase of sophisticated Adware in the mobile app ecosystem. We’ll discuss how they managed to bypass stringent security checks and the aftermath of their unveiling.
Biography
Kristina is a Security Intelligence Engineer at Lookout where she reverse engineers mobile malware. Prior to Lookout, she worked as a Mobile Application Security Engineer at Shopify, securing the company’s Android applications. Kristina graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Science from McGill University in 2012 and is currently pursuing a MSc. in Information Security Engineering from the SANS Institute of Technology. She blogs about computer security on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube under the handle @chmodxx.
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