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VirginMedia distributing viruses!

Lil-Squabbit
Up to speed

As the title says.

VirginMedia are now distributing malicious malware/ viruses via their Telly Tablets. The viruses in question are:

  • COM.WAGD.SMARTER
  • COM.WAGD.XIAOAN
  • COM.WAGD.GEM

Apparently, this is due to an infection on one of their update servers which hard codes the malware into the system software. This means that even if you do a hard reset on the device, the malicious products will be reinstalled too.

What are VirginMedia doing about this as I am sure we cant be the only people that are having this issue.

This is worrying that a major broadband supplier is letting these malware/viruses run rampant through their products. Bad form VirginMedia, bad form!

What are you going to do about this? 

...........................................................................................................
Lil-Squabbit is soooooo NOT amused!!!!
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Kev_B
Community Manager (Retired)
Community Manager (Retired)

Hi,

We're still conducting our investigation, and we've been asked to capture some information to help our security teams in the work they're doing. If you've been affected, would you please mind posting with answers to the following information?

  1. How did you update the Telly Tablet, was it via Settings System Updates, or was it prompted by a pop-up?
  2. Can you confirm if the update you downloaded was a system update or an update within a specific app?
  3. Can you confirm the build version of your device please?

Our teams are monitoring the forum thread, so as soon as we get this information it will be factored into the investigate.

I completely understand the concern being expressed, please rest assured we're doing all we can to address this update. The information provided will help us get to a resolution.

P.S. This is being marked as a Helpful Answer to ensure everybody sees the information we're asking for, we aren't considering this issue resolved.

Kev

The do's and don'ts. Keep the community welcoming for all. Follow the house rules


See where this Helpful Answer was posted

193 REPLIES 193

Tigratone
Dialled in

Both me and my wife both have telly tablets,  and within the last few weeks we both have had issues with malware within the tablets. They both were acting strangely,  with pop ups, and redirecting web pages and downloading unwanted apps. 

After a virus scan the problem was found to be malware within the system updates folder, and because its part of the operating system the anti virus program could not delete or quarantine the virus. So now looks like the tablet is useless.  

Its strange that it should happen to me and my wife's tablet at about the same time, but all other tablets, phones and laptops in the house are unaffected,  could it be there is a security flaw with the tablet?

As anybody else had any problems?

 

Are these tablets supplied by Virginmedia? What make & model are they?
What operating system do they run?
Have you tried resetting the tablets to default & reinstalling the OS? I’d try with one first & see if it fixes the problem.

My Broadband Ping - Virginmedia

Graham_A
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

@Tigratone  This thread has links to VM telly tablet support by options:

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Virgin-Mobile/is-there-anybody-that-repaires-telly-tablets/td-p...

________________________________
Graham

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media, I'm a VM customer. There are no guarantees that my advice will work. Please read the FAQs
Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

Thanks for your reply.

The tablet is branded as virgin. 

The make and model is maysun vm md 001

It runs on android 7:0

I have run a factory reset it did not solve the problem.

You mentioned about reinstalling the OS. Could this done by my self or is it better left to the professionals?

Thanks

 

It doesn’t seem to be possible unless VM supply a program to backup, restore & reinstall the OS.
Does the table have a memory card fitted? Have you tried scanning this for malware?

My Broadband Ping - Virginmedia

newapollo
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Hi Tigratone,

Back up anything important on your tablet such as photo's to your PC as you can reset the telly tablet back to the factory settings.

To do this turn the tablet off if it isn't off already.

Hold the volume uphome and power buttons at the same time for 10/15  seconds you see an Android  robot or the VM logo

Use the volume down button to scroll down to wipe cache partition, then press the power button. When wiping the cache partition is complete use the volume keys to select reboot system now and then press the power button again.

The telly tablet should then reboot to how it was when you first bought it, and hopefully wiping the cache and partitions will also have removed the malware.

Dave
I don't work for Virgin Media.
I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge.
Problem solved? Click to mark as a Helpful Answer, or use Kudos to say thanks
The do's and don'ts.
Keep the community welcoming for all. Please read the FAQ's
The Service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth - Muhammad Ali

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately it did not work. The malware is still there.

I'm running out of ideas now.

newapollo
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Have you tried this?

Go to the Google Play Store app and open the menu button. (the three-line icon found in the top-left corner of your screen)

Select Play Protect then tap Scan. The telly tablet will start checking for malware. If it uncovers any harmful apps, it will provide an option for removal

You could also try checking in Safe Mode

.Press and hold the power button until a menu appears, then tap and hold the Power off option until Reboot to safe mode appears.

Tap OK and wait until the telly tablet restarts

When it boots up, you will see the Safe Mode watermark at the bottom. 

Open Settings by tapping the gear icon then tap Apps & notifications  and check the apps list for anything you didn't install or that looks suspicious:

If you see anything then tap the app’s name and select Uninstall

If you find any unknown suspicious apps that  you can’t remove, it may well be the culprit that you’re looking for.

First, disable the app by tapping Disable  go back to the Settings main screen and look for a function that allows administrating your apps.

I can't remember what it's called on the telly tablet but it may be Manage Apps or Device Admin

Find the culprit in the list and turn off the toggle next to it. The toggle should turn grey, after that, go back to Apps, select the app and tap Uninstall

Do the same for any others then press and hold the power button again and  Reboot to go back to normal mode.

Dave
I don't work for Virgin Media.
I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge.
Problem solved? Click to mark as a Helpful Answer, or use Kudos to say thanks
The do's and don'ts.
Keep the community welcoming for all. Please read the FAQ's
The Service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth - Muhammad Ali

Thanks for all your suggestions,  tried them all, but unfortunately the problem is still there. The malware is deep within the operating system within the system updates partition and the many virus programs i have ran all say the virus can not be removed because it is now part of the operating system. 

Looks like the tablet needs a complete re-wipe and the os needs reloading. How do I go about this? Can it even be done?