Security News > 2023 > October > Avast confirms it tagged Google app as malware on Android phones
Czech cybersecurity company Avast confirmed that its antivirus SDK has been flagging a Google Android app as malware on Huawei, Vivo, and Honor smartphones since Saturday.
Others saw a different alert, telling them that the Google app was a trojan that could provide remote access to their device and allow attackers to install malware and steal the users' data.
While Google couldn't pinpoint the security service or app that was triggering the false positive, Avast confirmed on Tuesday that its Android antivirus SDK was the one that mistakenly tagged the Google Quick Search Box app launcher as malware.
Avast said Huawei's Optimizer app showed the malware alerts on Huawei devices but didn't provide any details regarding affected Honor and Vivo devices.
"On October 29th, it was reported to Avast that its antivirus Software Development Kit for Android was incorrectly flagging the Google Quick Search Box as malware on Huawei phones," the company said.
Huawei, Vivo phones tag Google app as TrojanSMS-PA malware.
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