Huawei, Vivo Phones Tag Google App As TrojanSMSPA Malware
Strange “security threat” alerts are appearing on smartphones and tablets from Huawei, Honor and Vivo, asking to remove a Google app warning that “TrojanSMS-PA” has been detected as malware.
These security warnings appear to be false positives and indicate that "immediate uninstallation is recommended" as the app is now considered high risk, as shown in the BleepingComputer Tools warning below.
When users click on the Show Details option, a warning will appear that the app has been detected sending secret SMS messages.
“This app can cause hardware damage and privacy violations by sending private messages, tricking users into paying for adult content, downloading/installing apps, or stealing personal data privacy,” the security alert says. .
“We recommend removing it immediately.”
Many users have reported this issue on Google Support Forum (Vivo Post), Reddit (Vivo Thread), Huawei Forum and various Android communities.
Bleeping Computer reached out to Google to find out if the app's latest update caused the sudden spike in malware alerts. However, a spokesperson said that Google Play Protection does not trigger the warning.
"This security alert is not triggered by Google Play Attack Defense and appears to come from a device that is not approved by Play Attack Defense and does not have the ability to download native Google apps from Play." For more information, we recommend the Contact the device manufacturer. Google Play is officially the only app store where you can download original Google apps for Android. All Google apps go through the same rigorous testing as other Google Play apps. Apps are guaranteed to be safe and meet Google's quality standards. These tests are designed to meet these standards. - Google spokesperson
BleepingComputer has independently confirmed that these warnings occur on Huawei devices that come pre-installed with genuine Google apps (released before the ban) and on devices that do not have any apps installed.
Therefore, Google's statement does not accurately reflect the Android devices affected by these warnings.
Bleeping Computer has confirmed that these alerts appear on Huawei devices running the Huawei Optimizer app. However, it is not clear which apps are showing the warning for Vivo or Honor phones.
If the Google app is not sideloaded on your Huawei, Vivo or Honor phone, you can ignore the warning and let it run.
Although these alarms may be false alarms, there are no official comments from device manufacturers confirming this.
The recommended solution to disable the “false warning” is to go to Settings > Apps > Optimizer > App Data > Storage > Clear cache/data and then restart your device.
If that doesn't work, try uninstalling and reinstalling the Huawei Optimizer app.
This step should update the old signature database and remove false positive warnings.
Bleeping Computer has also asked Huawei and Vivo for feedback, but we have not yet received a response from the Chinese smartphone manufacturers.
