Google Chinese company, partner for Android devices, secretly turned 1.3 million devices into ‘spy gadgets’

Google revealed that it has severed ties with one of its Android manufacturing partners after discovering that the company allegedly built a secret backdoor into more than 1.3 million devices, allowing them to be turned into a massive botnet and used for malicious activities without the knowledge of their owner. According to a report by The Verge, Google identified the manufacturer as Videostrong Co, which is a Shenzhen-based company that produced Android-powered devices. Google said that it has now banned the company from building or selling certified Android devices and from supplying software for them.

Devices secretly enrolled into a botnet said Google