Discconnect now, FBI warns 10 million Android users.
Update, July 26, 2025: This story, originally published on July 25, has been updated with a statement from the researchers which initially disclosed and disrupted the BadBox 2.0 operation that the FBI and Google are tackling head-on.
In March, I reported that one of the largest botnets of its kind ever detected had impacted over a million Android devices. That massive attack was known as BadBox, but it has now been eclipsed by BadBox 2.0, with at least 10 million Android devices infected. Google has taken action to protect users as best it can, as well as launching legal action against the attackers, and the FBI has urged impacted users to disconnect their devices from the internet. Here’s what you need to know.
The FBI, Google And Others Warn Of Android BadBox 2.0 Attacks
The FBI cybersecurity alert, I-060525-PSA, could not have been clearer: ongoing attacks are targeting everything from streaming devices, digital picture frames, third-party aftermarket automobile infotainment systems and other assorted home smart devices. The devices, all low-cost and uncertified, mostly originating in China, allow attackers to access your home network and beyond by, the FBI warned, “configuring the product with malicious software prior to the user’s purchase.” It has also been noted, however, that mandatory “software updates” during the installation process can also install a malicious backdoor.
Point Wild’s Threat Intelligence Lat61 Team reverse-engineered the BadBox 2 infection chain and, as a result, uncovered new indicators of compromise that have been shared with global Computer Emergency Response Teams, as well as law enforcement. “This Android-based malware is pre-installed in the firmware of low-cost IoT devices, smart TVs, TV boxes, tablets, before they even leave the factory,” Kiran Gaikwad from the LAT61 team said, “It silently turns them into residential proxy nodes for criminal operations like click fraud, credential stuffing, and covert command and control (C2) routing.”
Google, meanwhile, confirmed in a July 17 statement that it had “filed a lawsuit in New York federal court against the botnet’s perpetrators.” Google also said that it has “updated Google Play Protect, Android’s built-in malware and unwanted software protection, to automatically block BadBox-associated apps.”
Human Security Behind Initial BadBox 2.0 Disclosure And Disruption
Human Security, whose Satori Threat Intelligence and Research Team originally both disclosed and disrupted the BadBox 2.0 threat campaign, said at the time that researchers believed “several threat actor groups participated in BadBox 2.0, each contributing to parts of the underlying infrastructure or the fraud modules that monetize the infected devices, including programmatic ad fraud, click fraud, proxyjacking, and creating and operating a botnet across 222 countries and territories.” If nothing else, that provides some context to the scale of this campaign.
Now, Stu Solomon, the Human Security CEO, has issued the following statement: “We applaud Google’s decisive action against the cybercriminals behind the BadBox 2.0 botnet our team uncovered. This takedown marks a significant step forward in the ongoing battle to secure the internet from sophisticated fraud operations that hijack devices, steal money, and exploit consumers without their knowledge. Human’s mission is to protect the integrity of the digital ecosystem by disrupting cybercrime at scale, and this effort exemplifies the power of collective defense. We’re proud to have been deeply involved in this operation, working in close partnership with Google, TrendMicro, and the Shadowserver Foundation. Their collaboration has been invaluable in helping us expose and dismantle this threat.”
FBI Recommendations And Mitigations — Disconnect Your Devices Now
The FBI has recommended that Android users should be on the lookout for a number of potential clues that your Chinese-manufactured smart device could be infected with BadBox 2.0 malware.
- Any requirement for Google Play Protect services to be disabled.
- Any streaming devices that are advertised as being fully unlocked or capable of delivering completely free content.
- Any devices that come from unrecognized brands.
- The use of unknown and unofficial app marketplaces, where software must be downloaded during setup.
- Any unexplained or suspicious internet traffic.
When it comes to mitigation, the advice is straightforward: users should “consider disconnecting suspicious devices from their networks,” the FBI said.
Source link
