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

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 Play Store’s approval process in the blog post. Following are the 17 apps removed by Google: All Good PDF Scanner Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons Tangram App Lock Direct Messenger Private SMS One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional Translator Style Photo Collage Meticulous Scanner Desire Translate Talent Photo Editor – Blur focus Care Message Part Message Paper Doc Scanner Blue Scanner Hummingbird PDF Converter – Photo to PDF All Good PDF Scanner A report in ZDNet said that Google even used its Play Protect service to disable the apps on already infected devices. The company said that its security teams have removed more than 1,700 apps containing Joker malware from the Play Store since 2017.