Avoid These 100 Malicious Apps Listed On Google Play
New Android malware has been spotted online and has infected over 100 apps available on the Google Play Store. This is according to a new report published The White Ops Threat Intelligence team.
In the report, the team notes that the malware, named Soraka and Sogo in some instances, has infected 104 apps on Google Play store.
In total, these apps have raked 4.6 million downloads worldwide. Apps infected by this malicious code have been caught promoting ad fraud.
The mentioned apps in the research include Best Fortune Explorer App, Fake caller plus, Color Spy game, Art Filter Photo Editor: Art & Painting Effects, among others (full list here).
The malware code can show intrusive ads to the victims’ devices even on the lock screen or standby screen.
The team notes that the new strain of malware – Soraka – is brilliant. It actively hides, thus making it hard to be detected by automated detection systems.
“Those hiding behaviors are significant,” said White Ops’ John Laycock in a statement.
“The fraudsters are getting smarter—they know this is now an arms race, they’re trying to slow down analysis with these tactics. We’re seeing these types of behaviours more and more.”
If you have any of these apps, you should uninstall them immediately from your device. All of these apps are still listed on the Google Play Store as of the time of writing this article.
Most apps caught in this report are just recent additions and shows how the prevalence of Play Store adware is not about to end anytime soon. Most apps which are comparatively new being able to use relatively new techniques, illustrates the never-ending adware fraudulent apps being harboured on Google Play.
Several apps have already been removed on the Play store, this year alone, and have affected millions of devices in downloads.
The research team says they will continue monitoring these ad fraud packages, and even identify any emerging new packages.
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