Quite often we hear reports about Google removing apps from its Play Store for installing malware onto users’ smartphones. Now, a smartphone maker has been found guilty of doing the same thing.
China’s Judgment Document Network has found Gionee guilty of implanting malware in over 20 million smartphones to profit from users via unsolicited ads and other means.
As per a report by GizChina, Shenzhen Zhipu Technology Co Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Gionee, implanted a Trojan Horse in Gionee smartphones via an update to the ‘Story Lock Screen’ app from December 2018 to October 2019. The company used ‘Dark Horse Platform’ to install and update ‘Living Trojan Horse’ on more than 21.75 million without users’ knowledge in a bid to increase usage and clicks on its platform to game advertisers.
The report says that the technique helped the company to earn RMB 27.85 million or 31.46 crores between the mentioned time frame.
The Chinese court ruled that Shenzhen Zhipu Technology Co Ltd illegally controlled the computer information system of users. It has sentenced Xu Li, Zhu Ying to prison for three years, Jia Zhengqiang to prison for three years and Pan Qi to prison for six months. It has also slapped a fine of 200,000 Yuan ( ₹22.59 lakhs approximately) on them.
