Check Point has uncovered apps containing very dangerous viruses on the Play Store. Here's the list of apps to delete immediately
Another 12 dangerous apps uncovered by Check Point Research researchers on Google's Play Store, which is supposed to be a safe store and ultra-protected by the Google Play Protect service.
The apps in question are infected with a family of "Clicker Malware" or the well-known "Joker". The former are malware that proceed, without the user's knowledge, to click on banner ads opened in the background with the purpose of cheating the advertising circuits by cashing illegal income from each click. The second one, instead, is much more dangerous: it can also activate, always clicking without any consent from the user, subscription services that empty our phone credit in a flash. Joker, tra l’altro, non è un virus affatto giovane: è in giro da inizio 2017 ma, evidentemente, ancora i tecnici di Google non riescono a individuarlo correttamente e a proteggere gli smartphone degli utenti che scaricano certe applicazioni.
Quali sono le 12 app infette
Come al solito tra le app infette c’è un po’ di tutto, dalle app fotocamera ai lettori di QR Code e ai giochi, perché i criminali informatici tendono a spargere virus su più tipi di app, per massimizzare la possibilità di infettare il maggior numero possibile di dispositivi. Le 12 app scoperte da Check Point, questa volta, sono:
- Compass
- Landscape Camera
- Kids Coloring
- QRcode
- Fruits Coloring Book
- Soccer Coloring Book
- Fruit Jump Tower
- Ball Nunber Shooter
- Inongdan
- Reyflow Phote
- Mely Wpaper
- Vail SMS Plus
Cosa fare se abbiamo una di queste app sul telefono
Se abbiamo installato, or have done so in the recent past, one of these apps the first thing to do is to remove it as soon as possible. Right after that we need to check our phone credit, to see if any subscription services have been activated (and if so, we need to call our carrier right away and have them deactivate it).
Google Play Store has a problem
Finally, it's definitely peculiar that this report from Check Point comes right in the days when we're witnessing a long-distance controversy between Google and Huawei, with the former warning users of the latter about the danger of downloading and installing apps from Huawei's Store (called AppGallery) and not from the Play Store. This is by no means the first time, in fact it's yet another, that cybersecurity researchers have uncovered infected apps on Google's store.