How to Protect Android Apps Against Hiddad Malware

Last updated September 17, 2024 by Alan Bavosa

Learn how to Detect Hiddad Android malware in Android apps in mobile CI/CD using Appdome’s no-code unified mobile app defense platform.

What is Hiddad?

Hiddad is a type of Android malware that disguises itself as legitimate apps, often appearing in third-party app stores. Once installed, it acts as adware, displaying intrusive ads and potentially harvesting sensitive user data. Hiddad primarily repackages genuine applications and redistributes them, compromising the security of the user’s device. This malware can exploit various services, including permissions to access contacts, SMS, storage, and network settings, allowing it to download additional payloads or leak personal information. Additionally, Hiddad may bypass security measures by abusing Android’s accessibility services, making it more challenging to remove. The primary aim of Hiddad is to generate revenue for cybercriminals through aggressive advertising and unauthorized data collection.

How Does Appdome Protect Against Hiddad?

Taking all the above into consideration, you can use Appdome to protect against Hiddad using a combination of following protection methods:

  1. RASP – Prevents Hiddad from injecting itself into installed apps and repackaging them.
  2. Code Obfuscation – Protects against decompiling and malicious reverse engineering.
  3. Root Detection – Protects app from running on rooted Android device.
  4. MitM Attack Prevention  – Prevents Hiddad from intercepting or hijacking sessions to steal data.
  5. Detect Developer Options – Prevents Hiddad from escalating administrative privileges by abusing Android developer options.
  6. Detect Unknown Sources   – Prevents Hiddad establishing a backdoor to persist itself on the device.
  7. Prevent Accessibility Services Malware – Shields your app from a wide range of malicious activities by restricting unauthorized use of Android’s Accessibility Services, effectively blocking keyloggers and Remote Control.
  8. Google Play Store Signature Validation – protects against fake apps, clones, masquerading.

Prerequisites

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Hiddad, you’ll need the following:

For each security feature, detailed activation instructions are available in the related articles section of this knowledge base. These articles provide step-by-step guidance, ensuring you can effectively implement each protection strategy within your Android application.

Related Articles:

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

Alan Bavosa

Alan is a product specialist at appdome who loves helping mobile developers use a unified defense automation platform to protect Android & iOS apps in seconds.

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