Category Archives: Google Play Store

New Android malware steals user data, records audio and incurs phone charges

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A newly discovered family of mobile malware can siphon sensitive data from unsuspecting victims’ phones, record audio and trick users into incurring premium charges on their phone bills. Mobile security company Wandera said in its report about the malware, called RedDrop, that it is “one of the most sophisticated pieces of Android malware” it has seen in wide distribution. RedDrop is hidden in a set of third-party apps — generally downloaded outside of official Android channels — that appear to provide some functionality, like calculators, image editors or games. The malware has invasive capabilities that Wandera says can be used to ultimately blackmail victims. Spyware in RedDrop can collect data such as local files and photos, device information and nearby Wi-Fi networks. It can also record audio from the device’s surroundings. RedDrop sends all this data to cloud storage services belonging to the attackers “to be used in their extortion schemes and as the foundation to […]

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Google paid $2.9 million in bug bounties in 2017

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Google paid out $2.9 million in bug bounties to 274 security researchers in 2017, the company said. The tech giant has paid nearly $12 million in total since the bug bounty program launched in November 2010. The 2017 total was divided up with Android and Google products awarding $1.1 million each, and the rest came from Google Chrome bounties, the company said Wednesday. There were 1,230 bounties to researchers from 60 countries, and the biggest reward was $125,00, which was awarded more than 50 times, Google said. The $2.9 million total is slightly down from 2016’s high of $3 million in bounties paid. After receiving zero successful submissions for any Android remote exploit chain, Google raised the bounty on that kind of bug to $200,000. That’s likely lower than the offensive market will pay for such a bug, but it’s an exceptionally high reward as far as defensive bug bounty programs go. […]

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Google killed 700,000 malicious apps in the Play Store in 2017

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If it seems like every day there is news of a malicious Android app being removed from the Google Play Store, your assumption is actually wrong. It’s closer to 2,000 apps per day. Google removed 700,000 malicious apps from the Google Play Store in 2017, according to Android product manager Andrew Ahn. That number represents a 70 percent increase over the previous year due in part to the increasing role of machine learning in detecting malware. “Not only did we remove more bad apps, we were able to identify and action against them earlier,” Ahn wrote. “99 percent of apps with abusive contents were identified and rejected before anyone could install them.” Despite the increase in removals, the operating system’s security tool, Android Play Protect, earned mediocre marks in tests against rivals. Android is by far the most popular mobile operating system in world, commanding well over 80 percent of the market […]

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Google used machine learning to remove over 700,000 malicious apps from its store in 2017

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Google is working hard at stopping malware from sneaking into its Play Store to abuse billions of Android users. The number of malicious apps removed from the store rose more than 70 percent in 2017 from 2016 to 700,000, thanks to an improved machine l… Continue reading Google used machine learning to remove over 700,000 malicious apps from its store in 2017→

Hackers hiding malware, porn ads inside kids apps on Google Play Store

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Won’t somebody besides the scammers please think of the children? New malware on the Google Play Store downloaded over 3 million times hid inside nearly 70 different children’s game apps. The malware, known as AdultSwine, created an array of problems for victims including scaring them into installing fake security apps, spending money on premium SMS messages and displaying ads over other apps that included pornographic content. Infected apps include Five Nights Survival Craft (with over 1 million downloads), Mcqueen Car Racing Game (over 500,000 downloads) and Addon Pixelmon for MCPE (over 500,000 downloads). The ads come from popular advertisement networks like Google, Facebook and Immobi, as well as the malware’s own ad library, which include the pornographic advertisements. Researchers from Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point Technologies say AdultSwine could also easily be used for  more nefarious things like credential theft. Despite significant efforts from Google, the Google Play Store is regularly hit by malware outbreak […]

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Malicious adware downloaded over 1.5 million times in Google Play store

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The Google Play Store is like the world’s busiest mall. It’s packed with 2 billion active monthly users, 3.5 million apps, plenty of businesspeople and a long line of con artists too. Disclosed this week, new malicious adware dubbed LightsOut was downloaded over 1.5 million times in the Google Play Store, used to generate illegal ad revenue for its creators. Researchers at the cybersecurity firm Check Point Technologies detected the malware and Google has since removed the app. When asked who is responsible, Check Point researchers told CyberScoop that they “do not know.” Hiding in 22 flashlight and utility apps, LightsOut’s goal was to pummel users with ads at all times even when people tried to disable them. Hardly a subtle approach, removing the app is difficult because LightsOut hides the app’s icon in attempt to elude victims. LightsOut is the latest entry to a growing list of Play Store malware outbreaks impacting […]

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Password Stealing Apps With Over A Million Downloads Found On Google Play Store

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Even after so many efforts by Google like launching bug bounty program and preventing apps from using Android accessibility services, malicious applications somehow manage to get into Play Store and infect people with malicious software.

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BankBot, once thought to be wiped out, returns to Google Play store

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There is another example of malware being a constant problem for Android users: BankBot, a banking Trojan designed to help crooks steal people’s money, is still lurking in various Google Play store apps despite Google’s attempts to get rid of it. The malware’s newest version hides in seemingly benign software (like free flashlight apps or solitaire games), avoids detection by Android’s security, downloads the effective payload from an external source hours after gaining administrator rights and allows for the theft of the victim’s banking credentials. BankBot has already been through several iterations, having been removed by Google in September but “several versions remained active until November 17,” according to researchers from the security firm Avast. “This was long enough for the apps to infect thousands of users.” “The cyber criminals have been targeting customers of big banks like Wells Fargo, Chase and about 160 other banking apps in the U.S., Latin America, Europe […]

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BankBot Returns On Play Store – A Never Ending Android Malware Story

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Even after so many efforts by Google for making its Play Store away from malware, shady apps somehow managed to fool its anti-malware protections and infect people with malicious software.

A team of researchers from several security firms has uncovere… Continue reading BankBot Returns On Play Store – A Never Ending Android Malware Story→