VO1D is a longtime botnet that infects Android TV devices, and XLAB security experts have now discovered a new variant that would have infected more than 1.6 million Android TV devices in the world, transforming them into malicious remote -controlled robots.
According to the security researchers, the new VO1D variant – or rather the Botnet based on it – is protecting itself with improved encryption (which prevents cybersecurity experts from sending commands to bots and analyzing them) and improved capture capacities.
Infected Android TV robots are then recruited by the command and control server for illegal activities, including DDOS attacks (in which a group of robots eliminates a service by flooding it from requests) and the fraud of advertising clicks (in which bots imitate users by simulating clicks on advertisements and generating income for fraudulent advertisers).
The Botnet VO1D is one of the biggest boots in recent years. The good news for users of Android TV, however, is that if VO1D is active worldwide, most of the infections come from Argentina, Brazil, China, Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand.
How to protect yourself
Protection against VO1D is starting to buy an Android TV device – make sure to buy from a famous brand and retailer. Malventy software can be preinstalled on Android TV devices, either by the manufacturer of devices, or introduced by an intermediary along the production chain.
The next most important defensive measure is to install all security updates and firmware updates published by the manufacturer of Android TV peripherals, and to follow future updates. This will prevent attackers from infecting your device remotely via safety vulnerabilities.
As a third security measure, you should only install applications on your Android TV device from the Play Store and not in other application stores.
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This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC shutter and has been translated and located in German.
