Security firm Avast has now released a report, which talks about a certain malware which poses as Games on Google’s Play Store, thus infecting your phone fatally upon download. The report further suggests that these so called games have already been downloaded over a Million times.
This adware has become all the more lethal, as it has clinged on to certain games, which have some 5-10 Million installs already. One of those games is called Durak, which is card-game and has that lethal adware attached to it. When you install Durak, it seems to be a completely normal and well working gaming app. This was the same for the other apps, which included an IQ test and a history app. This impression remains until you reboot your device and wait for a couple of days. After a week, you might start to feel there is something wrong with your device.
Avast says that certain apps or games may take as many as 30 days or more to show up their true colours. Once that happens, each time you unlock your device, you’ll be presented with a warning which says that either your phone is heavily infected or it is full of porn. Don’t believe that as neither of those two is true.
However, if you do get lured into that somehow, you are then asked to take action, however, if you approve you get re-directed to harmful threats on fake pages, like dubious app stores and apps that attempt to send premium SMS behind your back or to apps that simply collect too much of your data for comfort while offering you no additional value. These are obviously data thefts and not some actual comfort providing experiences.
In some cases, this malware has re-directed users to security apps on Google’s Play Store. Though these security apps are harmless, but it is general knowledge that no security firm would promote its app through another app.
So how can you possibly protect yourself ?
Well, Avast obviously says that you purchase its Mobile Premium solution to block such adwares. While Avast’s sftware definitely is one of the better ones when it comes to mobile security, you can take a measure or two yourself, to stay safe.
One of the, being is to read the description of the app. These adware infected apps generally have a dodgy, poorly written description. These descriptions are non-comprehensive, which is what differentiates it from the better apps out there. Moreover, these descriptions are poorly written not only in English, but in other languages like German too. An example of such descriptions is,
A card game called ‘Durak‘ – one of the most common and well known game
Secondly, verify publishers before you download the app. The app may have over a Million downloads, but that is common for quite a lot of apps on PlayStore. It is better to have a look at the publisher’s website and verify their mentioned e-mail address, before downloadinga dubious app.
In a reply to TechCrunch, Google says the apps mentioned in the report are now suspended.
