There’s no time of year when new malware affecting some Android phones isn’t discovered. Europe is a country that is increasingly aware of online security, but this does not prevent cases of people having their information or even passwords to their accounts stolen. You must therefore be very careful.
Today the presence of a new malware has been discovered in some applications present on Google Play and downloaded more than 300,000 times, which could affect many people, Europe being one of the countries affected. .
Its name is Xamalicious, and its objective is to access certain accessibility-related permissions in order to take control of the device and thus try to make money at the user’s expense, either by stealing their data personal, or by using your cell phone without them. awareness. .
Uninstall these apps
Android accessibility services can allow you to control the mobile phone, almost in its entirety. This is why these should not be granted to any application where they are not strictly necessary. In this case, Xamalicious can use these permissions for several things.
First of all, it can install other malicious applications on the internal memory of the device, as well as steal personal data, such as passwords or banking keys, since it can see what is happening on the device. ‘screen. On the other hand, some criminals use it to fraudulently click on advertisements that earn them money, a practice known as Adware and which will cause the mobile or tablet on which it is present to be filled with advertising. The applications in which this malware was discovered are:
- Automatic click repeater.
- Count calories easy calculator.
- Expansion of sound volume.
- Numerology: personal horoscope and number predictions.
- LetterLink.
- Track your sleep.
- Step Keeper: easy pedometer.
- Astrological Navigator: Daily Horoscope & Tarot.
- Sound volume amplifier.
- Universal calculator.
Google has removed all these apps from Google Play so that no user can download them again from its store. However, if the application is installed, it will remain on your mobile until it is uninstalled, which is precisely what you must do.
This malware, which was discovered by McAfee, and according to the computer security company, the most affected countries were the United StatesBrazil and Argentina, although in Europe, where a few cases have also been reported, the most affected have been the United Kingdom, Europe and Germany.
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