VirginMedia distributing viruses!

[Lil-Squabbit]

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? 

[Tigratone]

I factory reset my tablet yesterday at 3:30. So far everything is good. But if I run a virus check (avast antivirus), it still shows the malware is still in the update folder. So it looks like it is still there, but not having any effect on the normal running of the tablet. Strange! It is worrying that it is still there though.

[Loobyyork18]

I factory reset mine yesterday about the same time and it's been running fine. AVG is still showing malware in system updates but the viruses haven't reappeared and there are no rogue pages opening in chrome

[Tigratone]

Been over 2 days and no problems.

[hmfc4eva]

I re-installed System Updates on Friday Afternoon to test, 

5 days later still no Malware downloaded

[SalemsLady]

I factory reset again this afternoon after reading the latest comments. I left WiFi off, made sure to disable automatic system updates before turning WiFi on. Have scanned with Malwarebytes and it has picked up the malware still in the system update, the factory version. 

(Had to edit my last reply as it hadn't picked it up, but 5 minutes later it did...  -_-)

I'm hoping it will at least stop the pop ups... but only time will tell. All this faff, just want to watch my Tablet in peace!

[Kev_B]

Hi,

Thanks to everybody who’s brought this issue to our attention. After investigating we can now confirm the implemented fix is working as expected, we recommend doing the following: 

• Reset the tablet, ensure the Software Update app is enabled
• Leave the tablet connected to the internet for 24 hours – if there’s no sign of malware after 24 hours you can continue using the tablet as you normally would
• If you have anti-virus software installed, it may raise a concern with the Software Update app, this is a false positive and can be ignored

Please note the Telly Tablet is an end-of-life product, which means we won’t continue to provide support in future, and there will be no further software updates.

[Blazeno1]

1 day with  no pop ups so far, 

Signed out of Google 

Reset to factory settings 

Started up

Let it run after connecting to wifi

Disabled updates as we have been told there aren't any more coming 

****could this actually be it**** whooo hooo

[Sololobo]

I think it only reasonable to point out that the Telly Tablet, like many other older devices, does not simply just stop working because it's considered by some to be obsolete.

It's expected that after a certain period (2 years /3 years/ some other arbitrary period?) software updates will no longer be made available, and that many apps will not install/run correctly on older devices.

Well, that's "End of Life" for you.

However, when it was a compromised and official software update which was solely responsible for making the device unusable, manufacturers and providers of these devices can't just wash their hands of the problem they created and state "it's an end-of-life product, which means we won’t continue to provide support in future, and there will be no further software updates".

You broke it - you fix it, end of life or not.

At least with the promise of no further software updates (compromised or otherwise) this situation should not be repeated.

(And why were software updates being rolled out to end of life devices anyway?)

[user2000]

I totally agree with the above.

If the product was already "end of life" with no more software updates, then the software update mechanism should HAVE BEEN DISABLED!  Either at source or pushed to the Telly Tablet...  that would have mitigated this very problem with this malware being pushed to the tablet via official channels.

What exactly IS the "implemented fix"?  It certainly doesn't sound like they have pushed a firmware WITHOUT this infected file.

The answer given by the Virgin mouthpiece does not satisfy me one bit - "false postive" indeed.  Let's see what Malwarebytes et al think about that.  As someone who works in I.T. I would be EXTREMELY wary of exposing my Google account etc on a device given the wishy washy response on the previous page.  It has already been said that this malware survives a factory reset, I think Virgin better make 100% sure that this is indeed a "false positive" and not some time bomb waiting to explode all over your personal data.

Well we'll see.

And then I will see if I decide to take further action against Virgin, be interesting to see how that argument stands up in the Small Claims Court.

[Lil-Squabbit]

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@user2000 wrote:

I totally agree with the above.

If the product was already "end of life" with no more software updates, then the software update mechanism should HAVE BEEN DISABLED!  Either at source or pushed to the Telly Tablet...  that would have mitigated this very problem with this malware being pushed to the tablet via official channels.

What exactly IS the "implemented fix"?  It certainly doesn't sound like they have pushed a firmware WITHOUT this infected file.

The answer given by the Virgin mouthpiece does not satisfy me one bit - "false postive" indeed.  Let's see what Malwarebytes et al think about that.  As someone who works in I.T. I would be EXTREMELY wary of exposing my Google account etc on a device given the wishy washy response on the previous page.  It has already been said that this malware survives a factory reset, I think Virgin better make 100% sure that this is indeed a "false positive" and not some time bomb waiting to explode all over your personal data.

Well we'll see.

And then I will see if I decide to take further action against Virgin, be interesting to see how that argument stands up in the Small Claims Court.

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Agreed