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Some Chinese phones are shipping with money-stealing malware
July 02, 2025
While many politicians are focused onpotential spying from HUAWEI phones, there may be a more practical security risk in the wild: out-of-the-box malware.
Chinese phones with money-stealing malware?
While pre-loaded malware on phones isn’t a completely new concept, Malwarebytes analyst Nathan Collier toldBuzzFeedthat Triada and xHelper were particularly insidious. While they create pop-ups and other headaches expected from this kind of malware, they can’t be removed with a factory reset.
The phones mainly reached African countries, including Egypt, Ghana, and South Africa. However, some devices also reached Indonesia and Myanmar. Secure-D said it blocked 844,000 malware transactions between March and December 2019.
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Transsion, the China-based company behind the Tecno brand, has pinned the malware on an unnamed “vendor in the supply chain process.” It said that it delivered fixes for Triada in March 2018 and xHelper in late 2019. However, the issue doesn’t appear to have gone away. Secure-D said it was still blocking Triada and xHelper on Transsion phones through April 2020, and it may simply be dormant.
Companies like TCL have had similar problems with preloaded malware, Secure-D added.
There’s no evidence of malicious intent on Transsion’s part. However, this doesn’t help the reputation of Chinese phones at a moment when many are already anxious. It also leaves many would-be buyers in a difficult position. Tecno is appealing precisely because it’s one of the few brands aimed primarily at low-income buyers. Customers might not have many alternatives if they’re worried enough to avoid Tecno entirely.
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