Cybersecurity researchers from McAfee have identified 13 malicious apps on the Google Play Store.
These apps, once downloaded, allow malware to infiltrate the smartphone, gaining control and initiating unauthorized downloads of harmful apps. They also trigger clicks on ads from various companies without the user’s knowledge.
Out of a total of 25 apps found to be capable of hijacking smartphones, 13 were discovered on the Google Play Store.
Some of these apps have been downloaded over a million times. Google has since removed these harmful apps from the Play Store.
However, the apps on users’ smartphones continue to pose a threat.
Therefore, users must delete these apps from their devices promptly.
The list of the 13 malicious apps includes:
- Essential Horoscope for Android
- 3D Skin Editor for PE Minecraft
- Logo Maker Pro
- Auto click repeater
- Count Easy Calorie Calculator
- Sound volume extender
- Letter Link
- Numerology: Personal Horoscope and Number Predictions
- Step Keeper: Easy Pedometer
- Track Your Sleep
- Sound volume booster
- Astrological Navigator: Daily Horoscope and Tarot
- Universal Calculator
Cybersecurity experts advise developers to conduct online checks before downloading apps to avoid falling victim to such malicious apps.
McAfee’s Fernando Ruiz added, ” We’ve identified about 25 different malicious apps that carry this threat. Some variants have been distributed on Google Play since mid-2020. The apps identified in this report were proactively removed by Google from Google Play ahead of our reporting.”
They also recommend learning from other user’s experiences with the app and avoiding clicking on unknown online links or downloading apps from them.