According to ThreatFabric researchers, a complete of 12 malicious Android apps within the Google Play Store are stealing individuals’s checking account particulars, and these apps had been downloaded 300,000 instances.
Researchers at ThreatFabric defined in a weblog put up that such purposes supply malware content material solely via third-party sources as soon as they’re downloaded from the Google Play retailer.
Malicious Android apps on the Google Play retailer noticed by researchers embody QR Scanner, QR Scanner 2021, PDF Document Scanner Free, PDF Document Scanner, Two Factor Authenticator, Protection Guard, QR CreatorScanner, Master Scanner Live, Cryptotracker and Gym & Fitness. Trainer.
Researchers say these apps are a part of 4 malware households—Anatsa, Alien, Hydra, Ermac—which are designed to steal customers’ on-line banking passwords in addition to two-factor authentication codes. The malware additionally captures what you sort and takes screenshots of customers’ telephones.
According to the report, the Anatsa malware household was downloaded greater than 100,000 instances. It needs to be famous that such apps have constructive evaluations within the Google Play Store which makes them appear extra authentic.
While Google has tried to sort out the issue by imposing a number of restrictions to confiscate the distribution of fraudulent apps. But, what makes these apps tough to detect is that they’ve a really small malicious footprint, which isn’t detected by the Google Play Store.
“These applications entice users by offering additional content through such third-party updates. In some cases, malware operators are said to have manually triggered malicious updates after tracking the geographic location of infected devices,” the researchers stated.
Earlier, in 2020, the Joker Trojan discovered its means onto the Google Play retailer, affecting customers subscribing to paid subscriptions with out their consent.
However, there are steps you may take to keep away from inadvertently putting in malware in your gadget. Most necessary, on this case, is to obtain efficient antivirus software program, which might scan every new app downloaded and monitor it for any suspicious exercise.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
