GhostAd
GhostAd is an Android adware campaign identified by Check Point that used at least 15 related applications distributed through Google Play, where they masqueraded as utility and emoji-editing tools. The apps established a persistent background advertising engine that continued operating after the user closed the app or rebooted the device. To maintain execution, they abused Android foreground services and displayed blank, unremovable notifications, while also using JobScheduler loops to repeatedly restart ad-loading activity every few seconds if interrupted. The malware continuously loaded, queued, and refreshed ads in the background through legitimate ad SDKs including Pangle, Vungle, MBridge, AppLovin, and BIGO, generating ad impressions and revenue while draining battery, consuming data, and degrading device performance. Reported user-visible effects included persistent pop-up ads, slowed device responsiveness, and app icons disappearing during uninstall attempts. The campaign primarily affected users in East and Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines, Pakistan, and Malaysia, and reached millions of downloads, with one app reportedly ranking #2 in Google Play's Top Free Tools category. Check Point reported that Google removed the identified apps from Google Play and that Google Play Protect disables them on affected devices. The reporting also warns that apps with this level of background persistence and external storage access could scan shared storage and exfiltrate corporate files to remote servers. High-confidence IOC hashes associated with the campaign include 7185a439005033b45b48294b302973898e68d8c898003f98acc275b27948ad40, a039c862807a14482169db0db5904749b7e5d733807418430d1cc3c2e3724f96, ebd4365923964218caa24c9f88f009aefa7f1427a20f0f02927c98285734dae5, 13805e77fb44a5a5af829f13ee494b9cfc4d5c9b470d51014cd506bd40c57426, and 91eb6afb903b2155246cb64289b4c2554922e0472fb355091843e0138c91a114.
Hunt this family in your stack
Mallory pivots from this family to the IOCs, detections, and named campaigns that touch your stack, and pages you when something new lands.
Techniques & procedures
9 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
Resource Development
1 technique
Resource Development
Execution
1 technique
Execution
Persistence
3 techniques
Persistence
Privilege Escalation
3 techniques
Privilege Escalation
Stealth
2 techniques
Stealth
Command and Control
1 technique
Command and Control
Exfiltration
1 technique
Exfiltration
IOCs tracked for this family
5 indicators attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
Recent activity
5 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Android adware campaign using persistent background activity to load ads, drain device resources, and generate fraudulent ad revenue.
Android adware campaign using malicious apps to run persistent background advertising, draining device resources and disrupting normal use.
Android adware campaign abusing foreground services/JobScheduler/notifications and permissions to persist, display background ads, drain resources, and exfiltrate external-storage files (including corporate documents) to attacker infrastructure.
Android adware that continues to be distributed, including via the official Play Store.
The version that knows your environment.
Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.
Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.
CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.
Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.