Neowin

US Government-funded wireless carrier selling smartphone with malware pre-installed

A phone sold by the United States government-funded Assurance Wireless comes with two malware pre-installed. The UMX U683CL is sold by the carrier for $35 via the Lifeline Assistance Program. It has ...
Threat Post

Lifeline Assistance Phone Users Targeted with ‘Uninstallable’ Adware

A Virgin Mobile-branded phone distributed by Assurance Wireless to low-income U.S. citizens has a trojan pre-installed that can download additional malware. Government-funded, low-cost cell phones are ...
Fox Business

U.S. government funds program that gives free phones with Chinese malware to people in need: Report

A federally funded cellphone provider offers free smartphones and cheap cell service to those in need, but the phones they have been giving away are bugged with Chinese malware, a new report shows.
Dark Reading

Chinese Malware Found Preinstalled on US Government-Funded Phones

Budget Android smartphones offered through a US government initiative for low-income Americans come with preinstalled, unremovable Chinese malware, researchers report. These low-cost smartphones are ...
ZDNet

More pre-installed malware has been found in budget US smartphones

Back in January, cybersecurity researchers from Malwarebytes discovered unremovable malware bundled with the Android operating systems on the Unimax (UMX) U686CL, a low-end handset sold by Assurance ...
Lifehacker

What to Do When Your Budget Android Phone Arrives With Malware

There’s nothing wrong with the premise of the U.S. Government’s Lifeline Assistance program. It allows those with substantially low incomes—135 percent or less than the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or ...
Wired

This Government-Subsidized Phone Comes With Malware

An Android phone subsidized by the US government for low-income users comes preinstalled with malware that can't be removed without making the device cease to work, researchers reported on Thursday.
SlashGear

US-Funded Android Phone Comes With Free Malware You Can't Remove

The US government has painted the image of a Chinese government that will use every trick in the book to spy both on its own citizens as well as other countries. The latter can come in the form of ...
ZDNet

Unremovable malware found preinstalled on low-end smartphone sold in the US

This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet/TechRepublic special feature, offers a detailed look at how to build risk management policies to protect your critical digital assets. Read now Low-end ...
Gizmodo

Federal Program Offers Free Phones For the Poor, So Long as You’re OK With Chinese Malware

So much for that “free” lunch, huh? Android phones distributed via a government-sponsored program aimed at granting low-income households access to cheap cell service apparently came pre-equipped with ...
techtimes

Another Pre-installed Malware on Budgeted Smartphones Detected: Here's How to Remove Malicious Apps

Malwarebytes has just exposed yet another budget handset connected to Assurance Wireless by Virgin Mobile with the same security issues it found over six months ago. Assurance Wireless is part of ...