Security company McAfee has revealed 43 malicious apps that infiltrated the Google Play Store. In total, the apps have been downloaded more than 2.5 million times.
On its website, McAfee explains that it is about so-called adware, which displays a bunch of ads and makes money in this way.
In this case, it happens while the phone screen is off, which drains the battery.
“adware”
It may seem like a small problem, McAfee writes, but this violates the Google Play Store’s guidelines for how ads are displayed.
– It not only affects advertisers who pay for invisible ads, but also affects the user because it drains battery power, consumes data, poses a risk of information leakage, and the like.
Among the applications we find several news and broadcast applications, as well as calendars and music downloaders. You can find a full overview at McAfee report.
The company encourages everyone to be careful about the permissions they give to apps. For example, whether they can use unlimited battery usage in the background or whether apps can be displayed over other apps.
Delete these apps
These permissions allow certain activities to be performed covertly in the background, which raises concerns about the apps’ intentions, McAfee warns.
under settings – battery And battery usage You can find out which apps are consuming the most battery power.
After McAfee reported the findings to Google, the company removed it from the Play Store.
This is how they get in
On a number of occasions, we have discussed malicious apps that infiltrate the Google Play Store, as well as the Apple App Store. in Security report shows Google One of the methods that gamers use to get around Play Store restrictions.
The search giant refers to the method as “versioning.”
But later, these apps receive a third-party server update that changes the code on the end user’s device and enables malicious activity, Google writes.
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