According to Gadget360 , Google has long touted its Play Store's strong security rules and its commitment to blocking malicious app downloads. However, Kaspersky recently said that Android users downloaded more than 600 million malware from the app store in 2023.
Kaspersky's report shows that malware developers have found new ways to bypass Google's security checks, allowing them to put dangerous apps on the Play Store. The company has identified a variety of malicious content and apps available on the store, posing a major security threat to Android users.
There have been over 600 million malware downloads from the Google Play Store
TECHSPOT SCREENSHOT
Topping the malicious list are suspicious apps that contain ads for mini-games that collect data, with over 451 million downloads. According to the report, a malware called SpinOk has been found to infect over 100 apps on the store this year.
The report also noted more than 100 million downloads of apps infected with hidden ads and more than 35 million downloads of copies of the Minecraft game. The report said 38 copies of Minecraft containing hidden adware were found on the Play Store.
Additionally, suspicious apps promising rewards have also been downloaded 20 million times. These include mostly health-tracking apps, with the lure of receiving attractive rewards for completing physical activity goals. The report also mentions more than 40 apps infected with background adware that have been downloaded 2.5 million times.
Two file manager apps with a combined 1.5 million downloads were also found to be collecting user data. These spyware apps are said to have sent important user data such as contacts, location, photos, audio, videos, etc. to servers in China.
Kaspersky experts also discovered applications infected with the Fleckpe trojan. When downloaded and run, they collect information about the country and mobile service provider. Then, they automatically subscribe to paid services to withdraw money from the victim.
Additionally, the security firm also noted more than 50,000 downloads of the iRecorder screen recording app on Android. Active on the store since 2021, it has a malicious code that causes the app to record audio from the phone's microphone every 15 minutes and send it to the developer's server.
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