NQ Mobile Discovers 'Copycat App' Malware; Hits Android Users Across China And SE Asia

PRESS RELEASE

NQ Mobile&trade Security Center Identities New Fraudware Virus Threat for Android Users

Virus Guises itself as Copycat Application Update via Google Play to Track Data Usage

BEIJING and DALLAS, October 15, 2013 -- NQ Mobile&trade (NYSE: NQ) a leading global provider of mobile Internet services, announced that its security center has identified, "Copycat App," a new fraudware virus threat targeting Android users in China and several countries in South East Asia.

"Copycat App," identified as a.frau.longjian.a, appears to Android users as an update of the extremely popular NetDragon 91 Assistant app. When the user chooses to update with this fraudulent app, it automatically downloads other repackaged apps in the background that consume the user's data.

The main nefarious behaviors of these repackaged apps are to:

subscribe to fee based services via SMS without the user's knowledge, resulting in unwanted bill charges

access and collect various details about user's device, such as phone information (e.g. phone number, IMEI, IMSI) and user's apps, invading the user's privacy

At the time of identification and inoculation, the number of infections has been identified as 193 users within a combination of mainland China, Angola, Hong Kong, Iraq, Macao, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

"While the superior technology used by NQ Mobile was able to quickly isolate and inoculate this malware with fewer than 200 infections out of billions of downloads of the legitimate app, it is important to note that it was spread across nine countries," said Gavin Kim, Chief Product and Commercial Officer, NQ Mobile. "This again, shows that malware knows no boundaries and will continue to spread as more affluent markets are targeted."

NQ Mobile Security&trade for Android is available for download on Google Play.

About NQ Mobile

NQ Mobile Inc. (NYSE: NQ) is a leading global provider of mobile Internet services. NQ Mobile is a mobile security pioneer with proven competency to acquire, engage, and monetize customers globally. NQ Mobile's portfolio includes mobile security and mobile games as well as advertising for the consumer market and consulting, mobile platforms and mobility services for the enterprise market. As of June 30, 2013, NQ Mobile maintained a large, global user base of 372 million registered user accounts and 122 million monthly active user accounts through its consumer mobile security business, 87 million registered user accounts and 16 million monthly active user accounts through its mobile games and advertising business and over 1,250 enterprise customers. NQ Mobile maintains dual headquarters in Dallas, Texas, USA and Beijing, China. For more information on NQ Mobile, please visit http://www.nq.com/.