Gallery App is Malware?

Pink131980

Hi All,

I did a search for this on these boards and online, but I could not find any helpful information.

I've had my Note 3 for almost 2 years and this morning I woke up to this message from my VZ Protect:

Gallery: Infecteed by: Malware

/system/priv-app/SecGallery2013/SecGallery2013.apk Infected by: Malware

Two days prior I had installed a Disney game called Tsum Tsum, Whatsapp and an app called Cram. I uninstalled Tsum Tsum and Whatsapp, (I did not uninstall Cram, I need it.) I don't think those were the problem as my VZ Protect scans each night and only discovered a problem 2 days later, but I panicked and started blaming everything.

Should I be worried? Is there anyway I can get rid of this malware? Should I try another virus scanner?

I'm anxious about passwords and such being stolen. :smileysad:

Thank you for any help you can give me!

Accepted answers

Snn5

It's not an update issue, it's an ad for their product. It is, in itself, adware, which is considered by many to be malware. It is hypocritical, although harmless...rather useless.

All comments

agourley

Around 1 am I got the same notification. It wants you to uninstall gallery but you can't. Any help from the Verizon folks would be appreciated.

Snn5

That Verizon Protect app has more false alarms than it's worth. If you really think you might be in danger, use Malwarebytes or Avast.

Mac110m

My Note 3 just come up with the same problem...Not sure what do? Wipe it clean and reboot?

Snn5

NO, you don't have to wipe it clean. Just disable the Vzw Protect app and install a reputable app.

jen564

Same issue with my Note 3.

veryfrustrated0118

I agree. Disable VZProtect. I tried it and found that it gave me more alerts than I needed/wanted. I disabled it and haven't had any issues.

ChippersMom

I have had this same Threat Alert for two days. Yesterday the Verizon Tech Support had me wipe clean my Galaxy Note 3. I spent over an hour and a half on the phone, then the rest of the day setting it up like I had a new phone - restoring everything the way it was.

This morning the Threat Alert appeared again!

I started searching the App on Google Play Store and others are having the same experience. Then I checked out here and MORE people are having the same problem! Then it seemed the "Malware" may just be the Verizon Protection App!

I called Tech Support again today - we just disabled it. Seems Verizon will be "working on it." There was an update recently - September 2 I believe. That could have been the issue. I do recall the Verizon Protection notifications just disappeared from my mobile phone - I used to see it pop up every time I turned on the phone.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 and there are no issues with the Gallery.

Hopefully the next update will take care of it.

We need as many people as possible feeding into this forum if they are having the same problem.

Snn5

It's not an update issue, it's an ad for their product. It is, in itself, adware, which is considered by many to be malware. It is hypocritical, although harmless...rather useless.

saccors

What is the name of the malware found in the gallery app?

ChippersMom

There were two Threat Alerts with the following details:

Threat Detected!
Security Threats

Gallery: Infected by: Malware

/system/priv-app/SecGallery2013/SecGallery2013.apk: Infected By: Malware

banriona

I got the notice today that the Gallery is malware and the crazy file /system/priv-app/SecGallery2013/SecGallery2013.apk. thanks for all the info. it freaked me out this morning. not a good start to the day.

ChippersMom

So this is an update! When I spoke to the Verizon Tech support about 3 hours ago, we disabled the Verizon Support & Protection. I just got another Threat Alert - 12 hours after the second one this morning - with the same message.

I went into my Application Manager and saw it was active! I tried to Disable it - again - and this time got a message:

"Can't uninstall because this package is an active device administrator."

I did not get this message the first time I tried to disable it.

FORCE STOP and UNINSTALL UPDATES are "greyed out." I can't do a thing! Something or someone now has control of my phone.

Where's the nearest Apple Store?

I DO NOT SEE ANY RESPONSES FROM VERIZON HERE!!!!!!!!! H-E-L-L-OOOOOOOO!

Verizon where are you?

tbo27

they take longer to respond here as opposed if you reported the issue on twitter to @vzwsupport

Pink131980

Huh. I never would have thought to take this issue to twitter. I'll do that now and if they get back to me, I'll report back!

ChippersMom

O.K. Now I'm getting the Threat Alerts every 2 to 3 hours. I called Tech Support again - got someone in S. Carolina who transferred me to Tier 2 Tech Support in Boise, Idaho.

I misunderstood - the update to the Verizon Support & Protection was September 7th - not the 2nd! So that was yesterday. So this Tier 2 wants me to do a Factory Reset again. I said look - Verizon just did this update yesterday, and now all these people are having the same issue. He tried to blame my Apps - which I have honestly maybe half a dozen of - and I said all of these other people can't possibly have the exact same Apps that I do - but the common thread is that Verizon did this update and now the very next day there are these issues with Gallery Malware. He just kept blaming me and insisted the only thing to do was the reset.

I asked to speak to a Manager and he told me he wasn't allowed to give me their name - that he was as high as I could go and I couldn't speak to anyone else.

I finally got his equally snarky "Supervisor" on the phone who proceeded to tell me that there is a software issue and they're "coming up with a fix." So I ask then why is this Tech insisting I do another reset? What am I supposed to do with this phone? - whereupon he told me they're not doing any more tech support on my phone and hung up on me. HA!

mountainear

I have a Note 3 and got exactly the same message, mentioning exactly the same two items that supposedly had been infected with Malware. I get the impression from this discussion thread that there is not actually an infection. If anybody has more info about whether it is or isn't can you let the rest of the folks who come here know?

Anybody know what SecGallery2013.apk is?

The problem seems to be specific to the interaction between the Sept 7 update and the Note 3. If you have info about the same problem on a different device, then adding a reply here could help the VSP folks figure out how to fix it.

@Pink131980: I have not installed any of the apps you mention that you have installed recently.

Snn5

SecGallery2013.apk is a stock Samsung app. It isn't malware.

Pink131980

I too, hope someone will reply here in more detail.

I've tweeted with two people at @VZSupport. It's slow going because it's Twitter, but they're trying.

ChippersMom that is not cool. Does your protection scan every 2 to 3 hours? I've set mine to scan only once a night.

Snn5

Since no one here is responding to reason, have fun with the paranoia-fest.

Vespasia

Same blessed thing happened when I opened my Note 3 this morning! Having read all relevant posts herein, and being a "veteran" of decades of digital stuff, I think this is a fault of the Verizon update that apparently took place on Sept.8. I just hate when they do this kind of thing; it throws every victim into a time-consuming tizzy & "they" whether Verizon or Microsoft or whatever, never apologize, repay us for our time o&/or angst spent on the problem - And, until the information trickles down to their "front line" people, they generally blame us, the consumers, for having done VZ protect something incautious! I do NOT believe the Gallery is malware-infested. I do believe Verizon caused this problem. I do doubt they'll ever apologize or compensate any of us fro having done so. I am going to tell the VZ Protect program to "keep" the 2 apps (both actually Gallery apps), & go on about my business - after uninstalling the "google" Antivirus a guy in my local Verizon store installed today in a benighted attempt to help. "they" mean well...but, really! [Read somewhere, they're "working on a fix"!] Cheers, Vespasia

Vespasia

Please read my post. It's post 21. Every reason to believe that all this hoopla was caused by Verizon update - made by Verizon 9/7 (I erroneously said "9/8" in my post). It is highly, highly unlikely to be malware. Cheerie-bye, Vespasia

Pink131980

I'm not ignoring your logic. I completely agree that disabling it would help, but I want someone from Verizon to see and respond to this. I'll also be downloading a new malware/virus protector.

Verizon still needs to let us know what is up.

jillybug

Same issue here for 2 days.

Badger_294

I have exact same problem. Called tech support, they sent me to second tier support. She wanted me to factory reset my phone...Glad I looked here instead...

Don't reset your phone.. Verizon needs to read their own support site messages.....

Pink131980

I spoke with Verizon support on Twitter, as mentioned above; they said it is a known issue that they are working on. Since my phone is not exhibiting any other problems they pretty much said to sit tight and they're going to work on it.

Badger_294

I appreciate your comment and adding to the discussion. I think the more responses to this thread the better...then maybe Verizon will take notice and do something...

saccors

Anyone still seeing this issue?

kickchic03

I encountered this same issue this morning. Glad this thread was here otherwise I would have been factory resetting my phone. What a pain!

ChippersMom

Yep! I got my Threat Alert bright and early this morning! Same thing still going on for me. I did notice that there is a "Threat Definition" 4.2.29.474 - don't know what that means.

It's almost criminal Tech Support is still telling people to do a factory reset - which is awful if you really don't have to do it and it won't change anything anyway!

How many people are going through this unnecessarily who haven't connected with this thread?

ChippersMom

Thanks for doing that with Twitter! You were the very first post here so thanks for that too!

Verizon_Support

Thank so much for all your responses, ChippersMom. This is definitely something we are looking into for the root cause of this alert. At this time, the factory data reset did work in stopping this issue. We will definitely keep you posted if something changes. Truly appreciate all the work you have put forth in finding a resolution.
NatashaA_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

ChippersMom

Just got this email from Verizon! Do not let anyone insist that you need to do a factory reset!

Thank you ALL for participating in this thread!...especially PINK!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Gallery App is Malware? created by Verizon Wireless Customer Support in Android - View the full discussion

iris0716

I had the same issue last morning. Has anyone gotten theirs fixes yet? I even deleted every single picture on my phone.t.t

ChippersMom

It's a good idea to have a memory card in your phone (the bigger the better) and adjust the camera settings to send all photos and videos to the memory card - and not just keep them on your phone.

Hopefully you were able to send the pictures to the Verizon and/or Google Clouds and retain them.

If you look at the thread from Verizon they seem to be working on it.

ChippersMom

I guess the factory data reset DID NOT WORK!!!!!!!!!!

As of 6:30 pm I am STILL GETTING THREAT ALERTS!!!!!!

THIS MADNESS NEEDS TO STOP!!!!!!!

Pamela Gelbandmyozdoggie@msn.con

Sent via my Intergalactic Network!

Oropez

Glad I searched the threat result and found you guys here. I was thinking it was their ap all along. Especially since it won't remove it. Hate Verizon. Leaving soon. Contract it's over.

Verizon_Support

We would be heartbroken if you were to go! Our goal is to offer you the best service and support at all times. What can we do to help you stay?
YaleK_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

ChippersMom

Could you PLEEEEEEZ set this Verizon Support & Protection App free so we can delete it? It sure is causing problems. Thank you very much!

Snn5

I guess not many other Android users can do this:

Robert3113

Thank you all for this information. I went ahead and removed the VP app. I downloaded the Avast Mobile Security and hope it will be better. Glad I read all the posts before resetting my Note 3 as well.

Snn5

This post is in the same vein as the gallery issue.

Vz protect device software modified, phone may be at risk?!? Please help!!

djoch

I have the same 2 messages. Before I saw the notification, I noticed my phone set itself to 2 hrs later than it should be. I restarted my phone. That fixed the time. Then I was messaging with someone, and she sent a picture that was dated for tomorrow. ( Now my time on my phone is correct though. Every message we sent back and forth after that, went above the pic in the thread instead of after it.

h20745

I had the same thing happen last week. My Samsung Note 3 gallery is infected by Malware. I ran Malabytes on it but it did not find anything. The Security Threat says, /system/priv-app/SecGallery2013/SecGallery2013.apk: Infected By: Malware. I am not on Twitter. I hope the answer will be here on this forum.

h20745

Why do Verizon customers have to go to Twitter for updates? I do not have a Twitter account, and if I did, I do not have time to follow Verizon on Twitter for piecemeal information.

Please post the answer to this problem on the Verizon wireless forum or contact me directly. I am very concerned with the Security Threat on my Samsung Note 3. It says my gallery is infected by Malware. I ran Malabytes on it but it did not find anything. I am unable to disable the gallery. The Security Threat says, /system/priv-app/SecGallery2013/SecGallery2013.apk: Infected By: Malware. Disabling the protection app does NOT remove the malware, so that suggested "fix" does not make sense.

Has there been a security breach? What is the malware doing? Please respond. 9/14/2015 9:34 a.m. PST.

Snn5

Please read my responses further up the thread.

Verizon_Support

h20745, this issue would concern me as well. I can advise that there isn't an actual malware threat and that the error message you are receiving is a direct result of the latest software update and is being investigated by Samsung in order to push out a fix via a future software update. Per our internal forums, some customers have had luck with eliminating that message by opening Verizon Support and Protection, going to the Security tab (Default) and tapping the "Scan for Viruses" button to complete the scan and then disabling the Verizon Support and Protection application after the scan has been completed.

EbonyR_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

Pink131980

I have an odd update. I disabled VZ Protect and installed Malwarebytes on Sunday. I scanned and found no viruses or malware. Unfortunately, today I noticed that my phone was losing battery very quickly. I uninstalled Malwarebytes and reenabled VZ protect. I had to reboot my phone about 3 times for the updates to take effect and allow VZ protect to scan my phone, which took another 30 minutes.

No malware found in my gallery!

I don't know if they fixed it or if un-installing and reinstalling the updates helped, but so far it seems to be working.

I'll keep you guys updated.

Ysiadairam

The same exact thing has been happening to me every morning when I open my phone, my Samsung Note 3 which I have had for almost two years now. It tells me there is a scanned threat and these are the same 2 items I have been reading on this entire thread. It is telling me that my gallery app is Malware and Secgallery2013.apk is Malware as well. I couldn't even delete it. I am so glad to have found this thread as I was freaking out thinking there was something wrong with my phone and being that I was unable to remove it.. From what I've been reading everyone here has the same exact issue as I do for the past week or so. I am hoping Verizon Wireless does the right thing by us. They're so expensive and we have for phones with them for the past 9 years ! I am glad my two years are almost up.

Aab93

I've also been getting the same notification, but mine also says that the file is infected with the android.oneclickfraud malware. I looked it up and it is a real malware. I've ran multiple scans with multiple programs, and they all come up clean. It started about 2-3 weeks ago.

Shell1958

Seems a lot of people are having this same issue! Looking for a resolution myself.

Shell1958

I'm so sick of this threat coming up on my note 3! Verizon needs to do a FIX ASAP! Following this thread for a hopeful fix soon! Thank you for all your work and input.

Shell1958

Following this thread with hopes Verizon comes up with a fix ASAP! I freaked out when it came up on my note 3. Thank you for all your time, work and input.