Beware! These malicious apps can harm your Android smartphone
What's the story
Romania-based internet security researcher Bitdefender has identified 35 malicious applications on Google Play Store that can affect Android smartphones.
With over two million downloads, they hide their true nature by changing icons and renaming themselves.
Once installed, they bombard the devices with advertisements and hamper the functioning of other apps.
Let's see what are these apps and how to deal with them.
Context
Why does this story matter?
As the world becomes more dependent on technology, there will always be those operating in bad faith and seeking to harm others.
Thankfully, when it comes to malicious apps, most problems can be avoided with a little bit of caution.
The majority of the apps detected by Bitdefender have been removed from Google Play Store and those using them should delete them immediately.
List
Here is the list of malicious apps
The apps mentioned below have download counts ranging between 10,000 and 1 lakh.
They include Walls light-Wallpapers Pack, Big Emoji-Keyboard 5.0, Grand Wallpapers-3D Backdrops 2.0, Engine Wallpapers, Stock Wallpapers, and EffectMania-Photo Editor 2.0.
Art Filter-Deep Photoeffect 2.0, Fast Emoji Keyboard, Create Sticker for Whatsapp 2.0, Math Solver-Camera Helper 2.0, Animated Sticker Master 1.0, Sleep Sounds 1.0, and Image Warp Camera are also on list.
Problem
How do these apps cause harm?
Once these apps are installed on any phone, they start cluttering the device with ads, thus spoiling the user experience. Clicking on some of them might also redirect users to malware sites.
Sometimes these applications create shortcuts on their own, prevent other apps from running, or bombard the handset with meaningless notifications. There are also high chances of data theft.
Steps
How to safeguard your device?
To avoid falling victim to malicious applications, only install required apps and check their reviews and ratings before downloading.
Delete useless apps and give approval to permissions requests very carefully. Some even demand permission to bypass the battery optimization facility.
Always make sure that your device is running the latest version of Android. Finally, install credible third-party anti-malware software that can expose malicious behavior.