These Malware Infested Android Apps Were Installed 10M Times, Delete Them Now
It seems these days that security researchers are sounding the alarm on malicious Androids apps in Google Play at an alarming rate. So it goes again with a fresh reporting highlighting over two dozen Android apps packaged with malware, and which have collectively been downloaded and installed 10 million times. Suffice to say, if you downloaded any of these, you should delete them right away.
The new list comes courtesy of Dr. Web, which noted that despite decreases in the prevalence of the Android.Spy.4498 trojan and Android.HiddenAds adware, these malicious apps have the biggest footprint among Android threats.
Source: Dr. Web
"In June, Doctor Web’s virus laboratory uncovered almost 30 adware trojans from the Android.HiddenAds family, with more than 9,890,000 downloads combined. These included both new members of the family (like Android.HiddenAds.3168, Android.HiddenAds.3169, Android.HiddenAds.3171, Android.HiddenAds.3172, and Android.HiddenAds.3207), and new modifications of the already known Android.HiddenAds.3158 malware, which was covered in our May review," Dr. Web states in its latest report.
A bunch of them are photo editing apps, though the full list runs the gamut from wallpapers and caller themes, to memory management, keyboard themes, and even yoga apps. When it comes to duping users, malicious actors leave no stone unturned.
One thing to keep in mind is that it sometimes will take Google a little while to remove apps that have been found to be malicious. At the time of this writing, there are at least two malware-infested apps highlighted in the report that remain available to download—Water Reminder- Tracker & Reminder (YPC Dev) and Yoga- For Beginniner to Advanced (ALHASSAN).
The difficulty in detecting malicious apps is that they perform as advertised. So to an end user, a malware-infested app may appear totally benign. Depending on the type of malware, though, users could see a lot more ads and pop-ups, they could have their data stolen, and even be subscribed to premium SMS services on the sly.
Here's a look at the full list of apps that fall into the HiddenAds category...
- Photo Editor: Beauty Filter (gb.artfilter.tenvarnist)
- Photo Editor: Retouch & Cutout (de.nineergysh.quickarttwo)
- Photo Editor: Art Filters (gb.painnt.moonlightingnine)
- Photo Editor - Design Maker (gb.twentynine.redaktoridea)
- Photo Editor & Background Eraser (de.photoground.twentysixshot)
- Photo & Exif Editor (de.xnano.photoexifeditornine)
- Photo Editor - Filters Effects (de.hitopgop.sixtyeightgx)
- Photo Filters & Effects (de.sixtyonecollice.cameraroll)
- Photo Editor : Blur Image (de.instgang.fiftyggfife)
- Photo Editor : Cut, Paste (de.fiftyninecamera.rollredactor)
- Emoji Keyboard: Stickers & GIF (gb.crazykey.sevenboard)
- Neon Theme Keyboard (com.neonthemekeyboard.app)
- Neon Theme - Android Keyboard (com.androidneonkeyboard.app)
- Cashe Cleaner (com.cachecleanereasytool.app)
- Fancy Charging (com.fancyanimatedbattery.app)
- FastCleaner: Cashe Cleaner (com.fastcleanercashecleaner.app)
- Call Skins - Caller Themes (com.rockskinthemes.app)
- Funny Caller (com.funnycallercustomtheme.app)
- CallMe Phone Themes (com.callercallwallpaper.app)
- InCall: Contact Background (com.mycallcustomcallscrean.app)
- MyCall - Call Personalization (com.mycallcallpersonalization.app)
- Caller Theme (com.caller.theme.slow)
- Caller Theme (com.callertheme.firstref)
- Funny Wallpapers - Live Screen (com.funnywallpapaerslive.app)
- 4K Wallpapers Auto Changer (de.andromo.ssfiftylivesixcc)
- NewScrean: 4D Wallpapers (com.newscrean4dwallpapers.app)
- Stock Wallpapers & Backgrounds (de.stockeighty.onewallpapers)
- Notes - reminders and lists (com.notesreminderslists.app)
There are a handful of other apps that are malicious in various ways as well, such as Poco Launcher (Bell34), 4K Pro Camera (Gotham South), Heart Emoji Sitckers (Jared Allene), YouToon - AI Cartoon Effect (MILLWARD NICHOLAS HAROLD), Pista - Cartoon Photo Effect (PistaLever sport), and Chat Online (Taganitok).
You can check out Dr. Web's latest report for more details.
