Please, Be Careful of the Apps You Download from the Google Play Store
Now, it seems the playstore isn't as secured as it used to be before as hackers have now deduced different methods of infiltrating the Google playstore without been detected. Recently, there have been multiple reported cases of malware attack on Android devices and most of them are from the Google playstore.
Despite the fact that Google scrutinizes every app to ensure nothing malicious ever shows up, a couple of malicious apps still slip through. An example is SMSVoca, an app which spied on users’ location. It had already garnered 1 million downloads before Google removed it. Then there is malware Judy, which infected over 41 apps on the Play Store.
One of the tactics used by hackers is uploading a non infected app to the playstore and later on push the malicious code to already installed app in form of an update. This way, they are able to bypass Google's security check undetected. This method has been gaining ground as they have been more cases of malware attack on Android devices than ever before.
I guess at this stage, it's safe to say that the Google playstore isn't as safe as it used to be before. For added security, I will advice all android users to make sure they have an effective anti-malware app on their smartphones to be on the safer side.
The shocking fact is that almost 100 of these apps, with >1 million downloads have been found so far (but not by Google).
The recent ones are Magic Browser and Noise detector reported to contain Ztorg malware, a malware that can root a smartphone without the user’s consent and also take control of the SMS services on the phone.The apps were downloaded over 50,000 times before they were removed by Google. So, if you have these apps installed — Magic browser and Noise detector — you should uninstall them immediately!
What can you do to protect yourself?
Ensure you check app permissions carefully and monitor the ones that are asking for irrelevant permission. Also, try to read up reviews before downloading.
Despite the fact that Google scrutinizes every app to ensure nothing malicious ever shows up, a couple of malicious apps still slip through. An example is SMSVoca, an app which spied on users’ location. It had already garnered 1 million downloads before Google removed it. Then there is malware Judy, which infected over 41 apps on the Play Store.
One of the tactics used by hackers is uploading a non infected app to the playstore and later on push the malicious code to already installed app in form of an update. This way, they are able to bypass Google's security check undetected. This method has been gaining ground as they have been more cases of malware attack on Android devices than ever before.
I guess at this stage, it's safe to say that the Google playstore isn't as safe as it used to be before. For added security, I will advice all android users to make sure they have an effective anti-malware app on their smartphones to be on the safer side.
The shocking fact is that almost 100 of these apps, with >1 million downloads have been found so far (but not by Google).
The recent ones are Magic Browser and Noise detector reported to contain Ztorg malware, a malware that can root a smartphone without the user’s consent and also take control of the SMS services on the phone.The apps were downloaded over 50,000 times before they were removed by Google. So, if you have these apps installed — Magic browser and Noise detector — you should uninstall them immediately!
What can you do to protect yourself?
Ensure you check app permissions carefully and monitor the ones that are asking for irrelevant permission. Also, try to read up reviews before downloading.
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