Google Play Apps with 1.5 million installs found sending sensitive data to China: Details
1 year, 5 months ago

Google Play Apps with 1.5 million installs found sending sensitive data to China: Details

India TV News  

Malicious file management applications posing as legitimate apps have been discovered on the Google Play Store, collectively accumulating over 1.5 million downloads. These apps, disguised as file management tools, secretly exfiltrated sensitive user data to malicious servers based in China. Although the apps claimed not to collect any data on the Google Play website, the security researchers found that they collected highly personal information from users and sent it to multiple destinations, primarily located in China and identified as malicious. While Google Play Store employs security measures to minimize the presence of harmful apps, some still manage to slip through the vetting process.

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History of this topic

Android malware on Google Play Store apps behind unauthorised subscription charges: Report
1 year, 7 months ago

Android malware on Google Play Store apps behind unauthorised subscription charges: Report

The Hindu  

Fleckpe, a new Android malware, installed over 620,000 times on Google Play, was found generating unauthorised charges by subscribing users to premium services. The malware was disguised as legitimate apps and was being spread as part of photo editing apps, smartphone wallpapers packs, and other commonly available apps on the Google Play Store. The Trojan malware works by remaining unnoticed, …

Google bans 36 malicious Android apps with over 100 million downloads on Play Store
1 year, 8 months ago

Google bans 36 malicious Android apps with over 100 million downloads on Play Store

India Today  

Google has banned 36 malicious Android apps from Play Store, which were first spotted by McAfee. In addition to this, the library is also capable of performing ad fraud by clicking The cited source revealed that more than 60 apps with this third-party malicious library have been discovered by the company and these have more than 100 million downloads in …

Dangerous Android apps with over 2 million downloads found on Play Store, delete them immediately
2 years ago

Dangerous Android apps with over 2 million downloads found on Play Store, delete them immediately

India Today  

A security firm has discovered a bunch of apps on the Google Play app store laden with dangerous malware that can steal user data. The apps discovered by Dr Web antivirus-promised productivity tools have over 2 million downloads collectivity. Some of the malware-laden apps are unavailable on Google Play, though users may still have them installed on their phones. One …

Malware Apps With 2 Million Install Pose Risk For Android Users: Find Out Why
2 years ago

Malware Apps With 2 Million Install Pose Risk For Android Users: Find Out Why

News 18  

More than 2 million people have been tricked into installing malware, and phishing apps that have bypassed Google’s security checks to show up on the Play Store. The apps have been installed by over 2 million apps which is no small feat and raise concerns about Google’s apparent security standards of approving apps before they are listed on the Play …

Google Play Store Update: Apps with 20 million downloads got removed
2 years, 2 months ago

Google Play Store Update: Apps with 20 million downloads got removed

India TV News  

Google has recently removed apps from the Play Store, which had more than 20 million downloads. According to the McAfee report, Google identified the new Clicker malware that sneaked into Google Play. A total, of 16 applications that were previously on Google Play have been confirmed to have the malicious payload with an assumed 20 million installations. The security researchers …

Stop using these anti-virus apps from Google Play Store, as they are stealing data
2 years, 8 months ago

Stop using these anti-virus apps from Google Play Store, as they are stealing data

India TV News  

In a bizarre incident, at least 15,000 Android users downloaded anti-malware apps from Google Play Store which, instead of protecting them from hackers, infected their devices to steal passwords, bank details and other personal information, a new report showed on Thursday. The six malware apps in the disguise of anti-virus apps have now been removed by Google from Play Store …

Google removed 150 malicious apps from Play Store, check the list
3 years, 1 month ago

Google removed 150 malicious apps from Play Store, check the list

India Today  

Google has banned more than 150 malicious apps from Play Store. The apps that were removed by Google from play store were part of a campaign called UltimaSMS wherein the malicious actors lure victims to sign in for premium SMS services. The users fell for the scam because the apps promised money in return of the services, as per Avast …

Why China’s largest ride-hailing app under probe?
3 years, 5 months ago

Why China’s largest ride-hailing app under probe?

The Hindu  

China on Monday banned app stores in the country from listing ride-hailing company Didi Global Inc.’s app, stating that it has made serious violations of data collection and protection laws. Didi is China’s largest ride-hailing company with a market capitalisation of about $74.5 billion. China's antitrust regulator is also set to formally block Tencent Holdings Ltd's plan to merge the …

Google Play Store key source of malware installs on Android, study finds
4 years, 1 month ago

Google Play Store key source of malware installs on Android, study finds

The Hindu  

Google Play Store has been identified as the main distribution vector for most malware installs on Android, according to a recent study by researchers from NortonLifeLock and the IMDEA Software Institute in Madrid, Spain. Unwanted app distribution on android devices’, researchers have analysed 12 million Android devices and their connection between apps over a four-month period between June and September …

Attention Android Users, the Google Play Store is Full of Viruses: Beware of What You Download
4 years, 2 months ago

Attention Android Users, the Google Play Store is Full of Viruses: Beware of What You Download

News 18  

Android users, be very careful before downloading an app that you do not know much about. Recent reports surfacing from numerous cyber security organisations state that the Google Play Store is facing an increasing influx of advanced malware now, more than ever before. The case in point is a recent report by cyber security organisation Zscaler, whose ThreatLabZ security research …

Google Removes 17 Android Apps From Play Store After They Were Found Stealing User Data
4 years, 2 months ago

Google Removes 17 Android Apps From Play Store After They Were Found Stealing User Data

News 18  

Google has removed 17 Android applications from its Play Store after they were found to be infected with Joker malware. Zscaler security researcher Viral Gandhi said that Google’s Android Security team took prompt action to remove the suspicious apps from the Google Play store. Further, Zscaler went on to explain the tactics used by the malware author to bypass Google …

Google removes 17 apps from Play Store that intend to gain user data access
4 years, 2 months ago

Google removes 17 apps from Play Store that intend to gain user data access

India Today  

Google has removed 17 Android applications from its official distribution service platform -Play Store. "This spyware is designed to steal SMS messages, contact lists, and device information, along with silently signing up the victim for premium wireless application protocol services," Zscaler security researcher Viral Gandhi said. As soon as Google was notified about the 17 malicious apps that intend to …

Android Users Alert! The Following 'Fleeceware' Apps Can Cost You Thousands
4 years, 3 months ago

Android Users Alert! The Following 'Fleeceware' Apps Can Cost You Thousands

News 18  

Cybersecurity experts have revealed that a batch of misleading apps on Google Play Store has the potential to dupe users and cost them thousands. Researchers from IT security company Sophos added that these 23 apps clearly violate Google Play Store’s security policies as well. Chandraiah in his blog post detailed that the creators on Google Play use a ‘blind subscription’ …

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