25 dangerous apps have been spotted on the Android platform, they’re plagued with malware, and can take control of your device. This information comes from the McAfee Mobile Research Team.
25 malware Android apps have been spotted and they can gain control of your device
Do note that all of those apps that were available via the Google Play Store have been removed. They’ve been removed even before McAfee published its report. If you still have them installed, however, that’s a problem.
These apps are infected by ‘Xamalicious’ malware. They’re mostly placed in games, health, horoscope, and productivity categories. McAfee also highlights that most of the apps mentioned are still available via third-party Android stores.
How do these apps operate? Well, they use ‘social engineering’ to get accessibility privileges, so that your phone can communicate with a command-and-control server. That communication goes unnoticed by the user.
At that point, a second payload is downloaded to your device, and can take full control of it. It can then perform various fraudulent actions, ranging from clicking on ads, to doing various other things.
13 of these apps have been available via the Google Play Store
13 of those 25 apps have been available via the Google Play Store. All of them have been removed, as mentioned earlier, but if you still have them installed, uninstall them. The list is available below.
– Essential Horoscope for Android
– 3D Skin Editor for PE Minecraft
– Logo Maker Pro
– Auto Click Repeater
– Count Easy Calorie Calculator
– Sound Volume Extender
– LetterLink
– NUMEROLOGY: PERSONAL HOROSCOPE &NUMBER PREDICTIONS
– Step Keeper: Easy Pedometer
– Track Your Sleep
– Sound Volume Booster
– Astrological Navigator: Daily Horoscope & Tarot
– Universal Calculator
These apps have been installed over 100,000, together. Two of them have over 10,000 installs on their own. So, plenty of users actually reached for the install button. If you’re one of them, remove these apps as soon as possible.
Full details on all 25 applications can be found in McAfee’s original report. The remaining 12 apps were not listed on the Google Play Store at any point.
2023-12-28 15:07:04