They see 17 apps on Google Play that display offensive advertising: they collect 550 million downloads

Android application store security is high. However, when you consider the nearly three million applications you submit, it is definitely a must malicious content, which can affect a good portion of users.

This has been the case with the 17 applications recently received by the Bitdefender team. These are apps a total of 550 million downloads have been collected, and indicate the behavior that Google disapproves of its app.

Unusual performance

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From Bitdefender have published about 17 Google Play apps, which are already installed on the device, they were hiding their presence so they would not be allowed. Hidden in the system, they started working in the background showing enough ads, a common practice when we talk adware

on Android

The conduct of the applications was well thought out. They had two elements: one that allowed the application to run, and the other to show ads, hiding in the system

Bitdefender researchers indicate that more than 550 million downloads have been collected for these 17 applications. How is it then that Google stops working until Bitdefender reports? Because these apps weren't well thought out.

By downloading these apps, the user I would normally use it, giving this application what it promised to do. That is, when you download the game, the game opens. The problem is that these apps are divided into two elements. The first part is a malicious code that hides and displays advertisements, and the second part that lets you use the program itself.

Photos 2020 01 15 10 22 00 "src =" https://i.blogs.es/1310a0/image2020-01-15-10-50/450_1000.jpg

The ads start showing up to four hours after being installed and randomly

, so it's not hard to see that the app or game we just downloaded is responsible for the big deal. These engineers change the appearance of the ads, so even though the code is the same in the 17 programs, the behavior is different between them. In extreme cases, User details were sent related to your phone model, IMEI, IP address and location information.

EXataka

What is Google Play Protect, how to protect your phone and how to fix it

We hit that one many of these programs had a four-star rating on Google Play, above the average of five. This is another simple test of the fact that it turns out to include sheets with bots and that, even though users' comments were illegal, their votes could be contested.

As shown by Bitdefender, Google has already been warned about this behavior, and are beginning to remove programs that have made these processes. However, we also leave you with a list of apps, should you install them on your phone.