One of Google’s Android partners turned 1.3 million set-top boxes into a botnet

<figure> <img alt="" data-caption="A current Videostrong Android TV device." data-portal-copyright="" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/11/videostrong-android-tv-device.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> A current Videostrong Android TV device. </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Google says one of its Android manufacturing partners secretly <a href="https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/shutting-the-door-on-the-xcpe-botnet">built a backdoor in 1.3 million devices</a> and turned them into a botnet. The company says it has now dismantled the backdoor and "cut ties" with the manufacturer, the Shenzhen, China-based Videostrong Technology Co., which has been banned from building or selling certified Android devices or supplying software for them.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The infected devices were used without owners' knowledge for "malicious activity," like ad fraud, data exfiltration, and routing unauthorized network traffic. Google claims the "backdoor and botnet were intentionally developed, deployed, and operated for financial …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/1024807/google-botnet-android-tv-shut-down">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>