October 30, 2023 at 10:51AM
Some Huawei, Honor, and Vivo smartphones and tablets are displaying false ‘Security threat’ alerts, urging users to delete the Google app due to it being detected as malware. The alerts claim that the app is secretly sending SMS messages and recommend immediate uninstallation. Google denies that its Play Protect is triggering the alerts and suggests contacting the device manufacturer for further information. Huawei Optimizer is believed to be displaying the alerts on Huawei devices, but it is unclear which apps are causing the alerts on Vivo or Honor phones. Users who haven’t sideloaded the Google app can ignore the warnings, and a suggested solution is to clear cache or data and reinstall the Huawei Optimizer app. Huawei and Vivo have not responded to inquiries regarding the issue.
According to the meeting notes, Huawei, Honor, and Vivo smartphones and tablets are displaying ‘Security threat’ alerts falsely detecting the Google app as malware. The alerts advise immediate uninstallation of the app. However, it seems to be a false positive as reported by multiple users on various platforms.
Google has stated that the alerts are not triggered by Google Play Protect and recommended contacting the device manufacturers for further information. Huawei devices are confirmed to display the alerts through the ‘Huawei Optimizer’ app, but it is unclear which apps are showing the alerts on Vivo or Honor phones.
If the Google app has not been side-loaded on the Huawei, Vivo, or Honor phone, it should be safe to ignore the warning. No official comment has been made by the device makers to confirm whether the alerts are false positives.
A proposed solution to disable the false alarms is to go to Settings > Apps > Optimizer > App Info > Storage > Clear Cache / Clear Data on Huawei devices and then rebooting the device. If this doesn’t work, uninstalling and reinstalling the Huawei Optimizer app may refresh its outdated signature database and eliminate the incorrect false positive warnings.
BleepingComputer has reached out to Huawei and Vivo for comment but has not received a response yet.