Five Hundred Apps Removed From Google Play Due to Malware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 08/23/2017 08:23 AM
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Security company Lookout has informed Google that they found 500 apps in the Play Store that deliver an advertising software development kit called Igexin.
The software is capable of delivering malware as well as spying on the users. The malicious apps could be found in a variety of categories such as games, weather apps, Internet radio, photo editors, educational, health and fitness, travel, and emoji.
Google has since removed the apps, but not before there were over 100,000 downloads. Google has warned that users who may have downloaded one or more of the apps should scan their systems with dedicated security software.
Lookout has noted that the developers of apps are not to be blamed:
“It is likely many app developers were not aware of the personal information that could be exfiltrated from their customers' devices as a result of embedding Igexin's ad SDK. It required deep analysis of the apps' and ad SDK's behavior by our researchers to make this discovery. Not only is the functionality not immediately obvious, it could be altered at any time on the remote server.”
In response to this issue, Google has developed Google Play Protect, which scans apps before they are installed. They have also promised to scan billions of apps daily and use cloud power to block malware.
Source: SoftPedia
The software is capable of delivering malware as well as spying on the users. The malicious apps could be found in a variety of categories such as games, weather apps, Internet radio, photo editors, educational, health and fitness, travel, and emoji.Google has since removed the apps, but not before there were over 100,000 downloads. Google has warned that users who may have downloaded one or more of the apps should scan their systems with dedicated security software.
Lookout has noted that the developers of apps are not to be blamed:
“It is likely many app developers were not aware of the personal information that could be exfiltrated from their customers' devices as a result of embedding Igexin's ad SDK. It required deep analysis of the apps' and ad SDK's behavior by our researchers to make this discovery. Not only is the functionality not immediately obvious, it could be altered at any time on the remote server.”
In response to this issue, Google has developed Google Play Protect, which scans apps before they are installed. They have also promised to scan billions of apps daily and use cloud power to block malware.
Source: SoftPedia
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