Question Norton scan - Auto Hotspot PUA

MissLou

Member
Aug 4, 2021
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Just run a scan with Norton 360 and it's showing "unusual behaviours" on a Auto Hotspot PUA. Clicking on the app info it says installed on 31/12/08. I haven't had the tablet that long!

I've had Norton for nearly 2 years and it's never shown up before. Is this spyware? Should I disable?
 
Just run a scan with Norton 360 and it's showing "unusual behaviours" on a Auto Hotspot PUA. Clicking on the app info it says installed on 31/12/08. I haven't had the tablet that long!

I've had Norton for nearly 2 years and it's never shown up before. Is this spyware? Should I disable?
What brand and model of tablet is it? Often the dates are really old on certain system files even if the files are relatively new. Could you extract the APK and share it so I can run it through some malware analysis tools and if needed look into the code myself?
 
It's a Samsung... A7 I think. I'm the least techy person I know so your last sentence means nothing to me.
My idea, I'm simple terms, was to basically have you create a backup of the app's package file and share that so that I could have a look to see if it's really malware or just a false alarm by your anti-virus (Norton is kinda notorious for false detections along with McAfee). Given that you know so little I am guessing you probably wouldn't be able to figure put how to extract the app package. Is it a system app (you can check by seeing if it can be uninstalled or not)? If so, it is most certainly a false alarm.
 
Absolutely no way I can extract anything! It's not in my apps list as far as I can see. When I click on the app info via Norton it says "disable" or "trust".
 
Absolutely no way I can extract anything! It's not in my apps list as far as I can see. When I click on the app info via Norton it says "disable" or "trust".
I thik it is a system app, their is a feature on Samsung phones called "auto hotspot". It's probably a false alarm. I'd disable it if you don't need it.
 
OK thanks. I've found it on system apps, it says there has been 13.74mb mobile data used since Feb. I only ever use the tablet on wifi.

I thought I had disabled it, ran another scan, its still showing and now I can't force stop/disable?
 
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OK thanks. I've found it on system apps, it says there has been 13.74mb mobile data used since Feb. I only ever use the tablet on wifi.

I thought I had disabled it, ran another scan, its still showing and now I can't force stop/disable?
I'd just leave it alone, it's harmless and is a false positive. Norton is a junk anti-virus, and unless you are downloading apps from outside the Play Store it's enough to use Google Play Protect which is enabled by default.
 
I agree with enthalpius. It's a feature built into Samsung devices and is quite useful and very niche circumstances. Just for the record "PUA" just stands for potentially unwanted application.

I also agree with enthalpius about Norton... Most of us who know even the basics of cybersecurity consider it borderline malware.
 
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I agree with enthalpius. It's a feature built into Samsung devices and is quite useful and very niche circumstances. Just for the record "PUA" just stands for potentially unwanted application.

I also agree with enthalpius about Norton... Most of us who know even the basics of cybersecurity consider it borderline malware.
I personally use Kaspersky, it false alarms the least (even less than Play Protect, and also catches malwarr that Play Protect will not) although it still will spit a false positive here and there in some cases but at least it is pretty good at telling you what the reason is.
 
I've had Norton for nearly 2 years and it's never shown up before. Is this spyware? Should I disable?

Disable Norton? Yes, or just uninstall it. As others have said, that is your problem, not the auto hotspot app. I've actually seen the Windows version referred to as a computer virus that removes other viruses.
 

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