Lo and behold, we find another case of dozens of malicious applications floating in the Play Store. The finding was made by the security firm Zscaler, reporting the presence of 52 malware-infected apps in the Android app store.
After the discovery, the company immediately notified Google to remove the targeted apps. Although the American giant has already banned them from the Play Store, it will be up to users to remove them from their smartphones as well.
Here Are The 52 Apps You Should Uninstall From Your Android Smartphone Right Now
- Simple note scanner
- Universal PDF Scanner
- private messenger
- Premium SMS
- smart messages
- Text Emoji SMS
- blood pressure checker
- funny keyboard
- Silent memory camera
- Custom Theme Keyboard
- light messages
- Photo Keyboard Themes
- Send SMS
- Chat Messenger Themes
- Instant messaging
- cool keyboard
- Emoji keyboard fonts
- Mini PDF Scanner
- Smart SMS messages
- creative emoji keyboard
- SMS luxury
- Emoji keyboard fonts
- Personal message
- funny emoji message
- magic photo editor
- professional messages
- All photo translator
- sms-chat
- smile emoji
- Wow Translator
- Translate all languages
- cool messages
- blood pressure diary
- Chat Text SMS
- Hello SMS Text
- Emoji Theme Keyboard
- iMessage
- SMS text
- camera translator
- come messages
- painting photo editor
- Rich topic message
- quick chat message
- Advanced SMS
- professional courier
- Classic Game Messenger
- style message
- Private in-game messages
- time stamp camera
- social message
The malicious apps now unmasked fit into three well-known malware categories: Joker, Facestealer, and Coper. The most prominent is the first, which comprises 50 of the 52 applications discovered by the security firm Zscaler.
Despite the countless times we’ve already talked about the Joker’s threats, the hackers continue to manage to evade Google’s verification systems to include new infected applications in the Play Store. They do this by changing parameters such as the application code or its execution methods.
This family of malware is mainly found in applications from the communications category. We have, for example, native app replacement apps for sending/receiving messages, often with promises of exclusive features.
In this case, the malware is designed to steal messages, contact lists, or information from smartphones. More serious are the schemes that enroll users in subscription services with high economic costs for the victims.
Then we have the Facestealer group of apps with the goal of stealing Facebook login details. To do this, fake login screens are repeatedly displayed on this social network until the user falls for the trick and their credentials are compromised.
Finally, I am afraid of the Coper malware, a Trojan with a special incidence in Europe, Australia and South America. Once present on a smartphone, it can intercept and send messages, lock/unlock the smartphone screen or, in more extreme cases, grant users hackers full access to the computer.
The last two categories of malware were detected in the Vanilla Camera and Unicc QR Scanner apps. In other words, utility apps that promise to offer even more features than native apps designed for the same purpose.
This report should once again make our readers aware of the dangers of installing apps from lesser-known developers. Closer attention to reviews made to these apps may be enough to prevent these fraudulent schemes.
Finally, it should be noted that the 52 applications shown here have already been removed from the Play Store, but they remain on the smartphones of all those who installed them earlier. If you have any of these apps on your device, uninstall them now.