Posted on November 26, 2018 at 5:07 PM
Play Store Malware Infects Half a Billion
Android users unknowingly download malware infected driving games. We have either heard of, or personally experienced annoying and intrusive bugs on our devices, but spreaders of malware have now sunk to a new low by pretending to be a fun driving game.
Over half a billion Android users have unknowingly installed an app riddled with malware from the Play Store.
A researcher discovered that 13 apps from the Google Play Store had been deliberately infected. Lukas Stefano, a security researcher from ESET, advised Android users not to install the app. Stefano listed the 13 driving apps along with their images, on his Twitter account, explaining that although they look like innocent driving games, they are in fact riddled with malicious malware.
Stefano explained that once users download and launch the app, 560,000+ installs -after launch, hide itself icon -downloads additional APK and makes user install it they unknowingly also download the malware onto their devices. 560,000+ installs -after launch, hide itself icon -downloads additional APK and makes user install it
Over 580,000 Android customers downloaded the 13 driving apps, which were all created by developer Luiz O Pinto. When Stephano first broke the news of the malware infection, two of the apps were currently #trending which made them all the more visible.
More than a car game
Stefano includes a demo of the functionality of one of the apps called, ‘Truck Cargo Simulator’ during his tweet. At the end of the demo, he shows users how to uninstall the app if they are one of the unfortunate ones to have already downloaded it.
Users got more than they bargained for when they downloaded this and other apps from the PlayStore.
At the moment, it is still unknown exactly what impact the downloaded malware will have on a user’s device, although Lukas Stefanko has informed users that the name of the downloaded APK is Game Center. Stefanko explains that the app is downloaded in the background. Once it has been launched by the user, the app hides and goes on to display adverts whenever the devices are unlocked.
So every time a user opens the app, the malware springs unscrupulously into action. All of this is done secretly, in the background, and is completely unbeknown to the user. Experts also know that a virus of this type will almost certainly render the user susceptible to having their personal data stolen. For example, the credentials of a user could be swiped as the malware renders the network traffic of the device fully accessible and thus open and extremely vulnerable.
