Warning: There is an 'immortal' virus strain, which is able to automatically reinstall even if users restore the original settings

Once infected, users can not remove it even though they have completely reset the factory settings.

A recent report by the ZDNet website shows the appearance of an extremely malicious "virus" virus called xHelper that is almost 'immortal' with the ability to reinstall itself. This means that when a smartphone is infected with a virus, users cannot delete it even after using a full reset.

This dangerous virus was first detected in March but only in August it infected 32,000 Android smartphones worldwide. Up to now, the number of infected Android smartphones has increased to 45,000. According to Symantec, approximately 131 new Android smartphones are infected each day, which is about 2,400 devices per month.

Picture 1 of Warning: There is an 'immortal' virus strain, which is able to automatically reinstall even if users restore the original settings

After appearing on Android smartphones, xHelper will automatically display malicious ads on the screen and spam content to make money for the person behind the virus. Even this malicious virus automatically installs ads or malicious applications from Google Play on the infected smartphone to earn a commission.

xHelper is included in pirated apps on unreliable Android app store websites. When users download those illegal applications to their smartphones, xHelper will install them as a separate download. After that, xHelper will delete the original application that it was attached to, making it impossible for the user to delete it.

Picture 2 of Warning: There is an 'immortal' virus strain, which is able to automatically reinstall even if users restore the original settings

In fact, xHelper will reinstall as soon as the user removes it and choose to disable the "Install apps from unknown sources" option, even after restoring to factory settings. This makes Android users never leave it.

Why xHelper can become 'immortal' remains a mystery to both Symantec and Malwarebytes software developers.

Even anti-virus software has no effect on xHelper. Therefore, users need to be careful before downloading any applications, games from websites to avoid being infected with this dangerous xHelper virus.

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Update 31 October 2019
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