Why My Smartphone Got Slower... Advertising Agency Installed 'Malware'

Representative and Development Team Leader Sentenced to Prison with Suspension
Court: "Reduced Smartphone Performance"

A group that developed and distributed malicious software causing popup ads to appear every time a smartphone screen is turned on has been caught. The perpetrators were employees of an advertising agency.

On the 28th, Judge Park Min of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 8 sentenced A, the CEO of the advertising agency, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation for charges including violation of the Information and Communications Network Act.

The development team leader B of the same company was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation.

Three app development company CEOs who did not directly participate in the development and distribution but abetted it were each fined between 2 million and 5 million won.

A and B created a software development kit (SDK) for data collection and provided it to 15 app developers from January to August 2019.

This SDK collected information such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and app lists without user consent and displayed corresponding internet advertisements.

In particular, developers contracted with A’s company ensured that when users downloaded their apps, the SDK was automatically installed on the smartphone. They did not notify users at all that installing the app also installed the SDK, effectively leaving users no way to know about it.

During the trial, A and B claimed, “We obtained smartphone users’ consent to receive ads and provided customized ads via ‘browser popups’ only.”

However, the court classified the SDK as malicious software rather than customized advertising. Such advertising methods degrade smartphone performance.

The court pointed out, “Causing popup ads to repeatedly run on an unspecified number of smartphones constitutes intrusion into users’ information and communication networks without proper access rights.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.