Agent Smith is a threat to the security of your smartphone

The virus replaces WhatsApp and other popular services with harmful copies. 

The threat was made known by experts at Israeli antivirus company Check Point, who first identified this new virus. 

Upon entering a device, a virus called ‘Agent Smith’ takes the appearance of WhatsApp, Opera or other popular apps, due to a vulnerability in the Android operating system. The virus got its name due to its similarity to the character from the Matrix trilogy, who had used similar methods. 

The corrupted smartphone then starts displaying annoying popup ads. The creators of the virus make money on these ad impressions. It’s worth noting that users are not asked to provide permission at any point.

More than 25 million clients have fallen victim to this virus, most of them living in India and other countries in South East Asia. Most of the victims were using outdated versions of Android.