Another batch of malicious apps has been spotted, this time around, we’re looking at 11 apps. Google has removed all 11 of them from the Play Store on March 25, but they’re apparently back. Google actually removed far more of them, but these 11 are back.
11 malicious apps managed to access 60 million people
Now, Google claims that these 11 have been verified again, as they’re no longer invasive. Still, you may want to check out if you still have them installed, and remove them. Removing them from the Play Store doesn’t mean they’re removed from your phone, by the way.
This batch was uncovered by a company called AppCensus. These 11 apps have managed to find their way to 60 million people, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The apps in question are listed below:
- Speed Camera Radar
- Al-Moazin Lite (Prayer Times)
- Wi-Fi Mouse (remote control PC)
- QR & Barcode Scanner (developed by AppSource Hub)
- Qibla Compass – Ramadan 2022
- Simple weather & clock widget (developed by Difer)
- Handcent Next SMS-Text with MMS
- Smart Kit 360
- Al Quran MP3 – 50 Reciters & Translation Audio
- Full Quran MP3 – 50+ Languages & Translation Audio
- Audiosdroid Audio Studio DAW
Direct links for these apps are not provided for obvious reasons. You will easily recognize them if you have them installed on your smartphone, of course.
They were involved in unauthorized sensitive data collecting
So, what did the aforementioned apps do? Well, they’re not as malicious as some others out there, but they did collect data they were not supposed to.
Just to be clear, we’re talking about all sorts of information here, including email addresses, phone numbers, passwords, and precise GPS location history. That’s truly sketchy, no matter the way you spin it.
A company called ‘Measurement Systems’ allegedly paid big money for data harvest via these apps, via a third-party SDK that has been integrated into them. The company denied the allegations, but there’s seemingly a lot of evidence to point in the other direction, says Phone Arena.