Windows users have reported the presence of a malicious software in the Microsoft Store that pretends to be from Google Photos but is actually an ads malware
A new application has appeared on the Windows Store: Google Photos. Be careful, however, to rejoice because it is not the Mountain View software to manage and store in the cloud in an unlimited and free way all our photographs. It is actually a malware created ad hoc by cyber criminals.
Many users have fallen into the trap and installed the Google Photos application on their Windows PC. In fact, the launch on the Windows Store has made the most careful users turn up their noses. In fact, Google has placed very few applications on the Windows Store throughout its history. And it is no coincidence that the alleged Google Photo has turned out to be a scam designed by hackers. Specifically, the program is nothing more than an automatic generator of ads that open autonomously on your computer to generate traffic (and thus money from advertising) on the sites created by cyber criminals who concocted the deception.
Watch out for the fake Google Photos app on the Windows Store
After reports from several users and computer security companies, Microsoft immediately removed the fake Google Photos from its Store. Despite this, however, debates have been sparked online about whether Redmond actually verifies the programs that appear in its Store. How is it possible that such a famous application as Google Photos could have been used as a decoy by hackers without anyone at Microsoft noticing the deception.
What should we do if we have installed this malware on the PC? First of all, let's go to the control panel and uninstall the application. Secondly, since when you log in for the first time and before displaying advertisements, the program asks you to authenticate with your Google account, immediately go to the personal page of the Mountain View service on Chrome and reset the password and check if there have been any operations done by others with our account. If we can, we also set up two-factor authentication to avoid future Google account theft and disable devices that are not ours that are currently connected to our Mountain View account, if any. As always, before installing an application lightly on your computer, as well as for smartphone apps, it's always a good idea to make sure that it's a reliable service and not malware by reading other users' reviews.