Taking benefit of the rising craze of dystopian South Korean horror sequence Squad Games – cybercriminals are actually focusing on unsuspecting people within the identify of Netflix’s sequence.
Cybersecurity knowledgeable and researcher Lucas Stefanko, who research malware at safety agency ESET, revealed via a tweet that an notorious app known as ‘Squid Wallpapers 4K HD’, which is on the market on Google Play Store (not but accessible), Tha, was developed by Threat Actors. Infect android telephone with joker malware.
Interestingly, the Joker malware has been noticed on the Google Play Store earlier than, however that is the primary occasion of a Squid game-based app getting used to unfold it.
What for those who obtain the app?
Stefanko famous in his put up that the malicious app was put in greater than 5,000 instances earlier than being recognized and eliminated. The app can obtain and execute native libraries and can even execute malicious apps on track units.
squid recreation themed android joker
1) Downloads and executes the native lib
2) downloads native lib and executes apk payloadRunning this app on a tool might lead to malicious ad-fraud and/or undesirable SMS subscription motionhttps://t.co/PTDtPlUkBy pic.twitter.com/AFs8gkEuab
— Lucas Stefanko (@LucasStefanko) October 19, 2021
The cyber researcher additional warned that the flagged app allowed hackers to carry out “malicious ad-fraud and/or unwanted SMS subscription actions”. Apart from gaining unauthorized entry to 1’s payments, malware additionally permits sure operations with out acquiring consent from the consumer.
Cybercriminals can even drive affected customers to enroll in premium companies, which might price them some huge cash. It’s value noting that anybody downloading the “Squid Game Wallpapers 4K HD” app is a sufferer of an costly SMS rip-off.
How are you able to keep protected?
Stefanko stated in a tweet that at the least 200 apps primarily based on the squid recreation can be found on Google Play. The most downloaded of those apps reached a million downloads inside 10 days. “One of the most popular TV shows without an official game seems like a great opportunity to make money on in-app ads,” he stated.
Considering how cybercriminals can use cynicism to lure folks into such malware traps, customers have to be very cautious whereas putting in any utility on their units. The finest plan of action for Android customers is to take away such apps from their units to cut back the probabilities of having Joker malware. Also, packing your machine with anti-malware can go a great distance in defending it from viruses.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
