Security News
Following the launch of a new "Data safety" section for the Android app on the Play Store, Google appears to be readying to remove the app permissions list from both the mobile app and the web. The Data safety section, which Google began rolling out in late April 2022, is the company's answer to Apple's Privacy Nutrition Labels in iOS, allowing users to have a unified view of an app's data collection and processing practices.
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered adware and information-stealing malware on the Google Play Store last month, with at least five still available and having amassed over two million downloads. Analysts at Dr. Web antivirus report that adware apps and data-stealing Trojans were among the most prominent Android threats in May 2022.
Another link discovered by Group-IB downloaded from Google Play, the official Android app store, a fake version of the 'Secure VPN' app, which is still present on Google Play at the time of writing and has just over 10 downloads. The researchers note that the description available for SideWinder's fake Secure VPN app has been copied from the legitimate NordVPN app.
More than 200 Android apps masquerading as fitness, photo editing, and puzzle apps have been observed distributing spyware called Facestealer to siphon user credentials and other valuable information. Facestealer, first documented by Doctor Web in July 2021, refers to a group of fraudulent apps that invade the official app marketplace for Android with the goal of plundering sensitive data such as Facebook login credentials.
A new set of trojanized apps spread via the Google Play Store has been observed distributing the notorious Joker malware on compromised Android devices. Despite continued attempts on the part of Google to scale up its defenses, the apps have been continually iterated to search for gaps and slip into the app store undetected.
Google is rolling out a new Data Safety section on the Play Store, Android's official app repository, where developers must declare what data their software collects from users of their apps. Not only will developers declare what data they collect, but also what data they share with third parties, essentially disclosing the purpose behind the collection.
A number of rogue Android apps that have been cumulatively installed from the official Google Play Store more than 50,000 times are being used to target banks and other financial entities. Like other Android banking trojans, the rogue apps are nothing more than droppers, whose primary function is to deploy the malicious payload embedded within them.
As many as seven malicious Android apps discovered on the Google Play Store masqueraded as antivirus solutions to deploy a banking trojan called SharkBot. "SharkBot steals credentials and banking information," Check Point researchers Alex Shamshur and Raman Ladutska said in a report shared with The Hacker News.
Security researchers tracking the mobile app ecosystem have noticed a recent spike in trojan infiltration on the Google Play Store, with one of the apps having over 500,000 installs and available to download. Most of these apps belong to a family of trojan malware used in various scams, resulting in financial losses and also loss of sensitive personal information. The threats discovered on the Play Store by Dr. Web's analysts include cryptocurrency management apps, social benefit aid tools, Gasprom investment clones, photo editors, and a launcher themed after iOS 15.
The threat actor behind a nascent Android banking trojan named SharkBot has managed to evade Google Play Store security barriers by masquerading as an antivirus app. Where SharkBot stands apart is in its ability to carry out the unauthorized transactions via Automatic Transfer Systems, which stands in contrast to TeaBot, which requires a live operator to interact with the infected devices to conduct the malicious activities.