Malware is a common evil of our smart devices. Like computers, our Android phones include a complete operating system which is sometimes attacked by cybercriminals. It is important to know the most common modes of infection in order to avoid them, as well as to pay attention to the signs that tell us that we have been infected.
Therefore, when installing apps, it is always advisable to go to trusted sources, such as the official app store itself: Google Play Store. However, even this is sometimes invaded by malicious applications. This is the case repeated in PhoneArena, with a dangerous malware which is present in up to 13 highly downloaded apps. We tell you what they are.
Uninstall these apps: they contain malware
Although Google has put a lot of effort into having a virus-free app store, it’s not strange that alarm bells go off from time to time. While blocking millions of malware-laden apps from accessing the Play Store, we have proof that they keep sneaking by dropper.
Last year we witnessed a particular case of spyware contained in several applications hosted in the store. These have accumulated over 400 million downloads. However, the newly discovered malware has fortunately not gone that far.
As we read in PhoneArena, the McAfee Mobile Research team discovered 25 applications containing the malware named “Xamalicious”. Of this total, 13 were those that reached the Play Storealthough, thankfully, Google has already removed them.
Of course, the team in charge of this discovery commented that They continue to be distributed in alternative stores of third parties. The “Xamalicious” malware uses a social engineering technique to gain administrator privileges on Android. Once granted, it communicates with a command and control server without us realizing it.
Although it is not possible to download them from the store, they have several hundred thousand downloads. If in your case you have installed one, you should delete them immediately to avoid problems. Here is the list of those who managed to sneak onto the Play Store:
- Essential Horoscope for Android – 100,000 downloads
- 3D Skin Editor for PE Minecraft – 100,000 downloads
- Logo Maker Pro – 100,000 downloads
- Auto Click Repeater – 10,000 downloads
- Easy to count calorie calculator – 10,000 downloads
- Sound Volume Expansion – 5,000 downloads
- LetterLink – 1,000 downloads
- NUMEROLOGY: PERSONAL HOROSCOPE AND NUMBER FORECASTS – 1,000 downloads
- Step Keeper: Easy Pedometer – 500 downloads
- Track your sleep – 500 downloads
- Sound Volume Booster – 100 downloads
- Astrological Navigator: Daily Horoscope & Tarot – 100 downloads
- Universal Calculator – 100 downloads
As we can extract from this list, the first three have been downloaded more than 100,000 times, quite alarming figures. Therefore, it is important to check our app drawer or list to check if we ever download them. Likewise, if you have been infected, you will notice abnormal behavior, such as a system crashing or a phone overheating. You can use VirusTotal to scan them.
By | PhoneArena
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