The Loapi Trojan malware can blow up your Android phone

Although computer viruses end up with severe data losses in worst cases, sometimes their outcome can involve some smoking hardware parts as well. Looking back, some might still remember the notorious Chernobyl/Spacefiller virus, shortly known as CIH, a malware that was designed to overwrite critical information on infected system drives, sometimes also destroying the system BIOS. Now, the time has come for Android devices to face a similar threat.

The Loapi Trojan can make an Android handset "literally go up in smoke," reveals the well-known multinational anti-virus provider Kaspersky Lab. According to a recent blog post by the company headquartered in Moscow, this malware can be picked up in two ways: by installing a fake antivirus app, or an infected adult content app. Obviously, those who created it thought about offering an excuse to the married men who would get infected via the second method, so they added the fake antivirus as well...

The Loapi Trojan has a modular structure and can do a lot of damage. These are its main consequences:

• unwanted ads, as well as the installation of other apps
• subscriptions to paid services
• DDoS attacks
• download of new modules for new ways of affecting infected devices
• mining Monero tokens

In this last case, Kaspersky Lab's research discovered that the processor of the Android device infected is pushed at maximum load continuously, so their test smartphone "overcooked 48 hours after the device was infected." Sadly, they did not reveal the brand and model of that test device.

To protect a handset from the Loapi Trojan, Kaspersky recommends to install apps only from official stores and to use an anti-virus solution for Android. Obviously, it is also highly recommended to only install the stuff you need and to disable the installation of apps from unknown sources for increased security.