Google: Urgent warning issued urging millions to delete 16 popular Android apps

Google has removed 16 apps from Google Play store after discovering that they secretly contained malware - malicious software. The discovery was made by a team of cyber researchers at McAfee, who informed Google of their findings.

Many of the apps had legitimate functions and good reviews and so it was difficult to spot that they had nefarious motives. The Daily Expressreports:

The popular applications - one of which was downloaded over 10 million times alone - were loaded with the new Clicker malware strain which is being used by cyber crooks to get illegal advertising revenue.

How they work

Once you have installed the app, the malware starts running in the background and inundates your phone with adverts.

Devices then received messages from the Firebase Cloud Messaging platform, which opened specific web pages in the background and clicked on ads, generating revenue for the designer of the malware.

McAfee’s SangRyol Ryu wrote, as per The Sun:

Mainly, it is visiting websites which are delivered by FCM message and browsing them successively in the background while mimicking user’s behavior. This may cause heavy network traffic and consume power without user awareness during the time it generates profit for the threat actor behind this malware.

Banned apps

The harmful apps in question are listed here, as report by The Sun:

• High-Speed Camera (10,000,000+ downloads)
• Smart Task Manager (5,000,000+ downloads)
• Flashlight+ (1,000,000+ downloads)
• 달력메모장 (1,000,000+ downloads)
• K-Dictionary (1,000,000+ downloads)
• BusanBus (1,000,000+ downloads)
• Flashlight+ (500,000+ downloads)
• Quick Note (500,000+ downloads)
• SmartCurrencyConverter (500,000+ downloads)
• Joycode (100,000+ downloads)
• EzDica (100,000+ downloads)
• Instagram Profile Downloader (100,000+ downloads)
• Ez Notes (100,000+ downloads)
• 손전등 (1,000+ downloads)
• 계산기 (100+ downloads)
• Flashlight+ (100+ downloads)

If you have downloaded any of these apps it is recommended you delete them immediately.

Google have responded by saying that all apps have been removed from Google Play Store and that ‘Users are also protected by Google Play Protect, which blocks these apps on Android devices.’ as per The Sun.

Sources used:

- Daily Express 'Google bans 16 popular Android apps! Millions warned to delete them now'

- The Sun 'Google issues urgent alert after banning 16 apps with 20million downloads – delete them now or it’ll cost you'

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