This nasty Android adware is making phones unusable — how to stay safe

A picture of a skull and bones on a smartphone depicting malware.

I often warn about the dangers posed by info-stealing malware and banking trojans but there’s another mobile threat you need to worry about: adware. In fact, an adware infection can render one of the best Android phones unusable with ads popping out of nowhere when you least expect it.

According to a new blog post from the cybersecurity firm Malwrebytes, the MobiDash adware has returned to wreak havoc on vulnerable Android phones. First discovered back in 2015, this adware has continued to spread in the time since through hundreds of different variants.