Google severs ties with Videostrong over backdoor installation in 1.3 million devices

Google has terminated its business relationship with Videostrong Technology following the discovery of a large-scale operation involving unauthorized backdoors in Android-based set-top boxes. Investigations revealed that the manufacturer had embedded malicious code in 1.3 million units and sold access to these devices to criminal syndicates.

The compromised devices were used for various illegal activities, including ad fraud, the operation of residential proxy networks, and the remote installation of additional malware. Google stated that the operation was sophisticated, utilizing dedicated infrastructure to manage its criminal partners and continuously updating configurations to evade detection.

The technology giant emphasized that these actions were not accidental or the result of an isolated internal error, but rather a deliberate business model. Consequently, Videostrong Technology has been banned from manufacturing or distributing hardware that comes with Google applications pre-installed.