Security News > 2022 > August > Android malware apps with 2 million installs found on Google Play
A new batch of thirty-five malware Android apps that display unwanted advertisements was found on the Google Play Store, with the apps installed over 2 million times on victims' mobile devices.
The apps were found by security researchers at Bitdefender, who employed a real-time behavior-based analysis method to discover the potentially malicious applications.
As Bitdefender explains in the report, the adware apps implement multiple methods to hide on Android and even receive later updates to make it easier to hide on devices.
If the user clicks on the icon, the app launches the malware app with a 0 size to hide from view.
In some cases, the apps assume the appearance of Motorola, Oppo, or Samsung system apps.
The rest of the listed apps are available on multiple third-party app stores like APKSOS, APKAIO, APKCombo, APKPure, and APKsfull, but the presented download counts are from their time on the Play Store.
News URL
Related news
- Fake Trading Apps Target Victims Globally via Apple App Store and Google Play (source)
- ‘Pig butchering’ trading apps found on Google Play, App Store (source)
- Google Blocks Unsafe Android App Sideloading in India for Improved Fraud Protection (source)
- Google brings better bricking to Androids, to curtail crims (source)
- TrickMo malware steals Android PINs using fake lock screen (source)
- Over 200 malicious apps on Google Play downloaded millions of times (source)
- Fake Google Meet conference errors push infostealing malware (source)
- How to enable Safe Browsing in Google Chrome on Android (source)
- Russia targets Ukrainian conscripts with Windows, Android malware (source)
- Android malware "FakeCall" now reroutes bank calls to attackers (source)