Google To Remove 2 Malware-Infected Photo Apps With Over 1.5 Million Downloads

Google has recently removed two harmful apps that have a total of 1.5 million downloads after they are caught red-handed infecting adware.

According to Wandera’s researchers, the two apps are Funny Sweet Selfie Camera and Sun Pro Beauty Camera. They do not serve the regular adware users usually see but have more advanced functions than that.

Out-of-app ads are not just annoying, they can also infect the devices with malware and drain their battery faster than usual. These two apps ask for more permissions than what other photo apps usually do. They can record audio even when users do not allow it, or display ad in full-screen mode when they are not opened.

The researchers said that the functions of these two apps were similar to those Trend Micro uncovered in August in the sense that they show ads that are difficult to close, as well as having their own techniques to avoid being detected by users.

This report was released right after a study came out last week, revealing that four VPN apps could infect devices with malicious ads, even when they only operate in the background.

The app store of Google has recently been under fire for letting malware apps go rampant. These apps have been downloaded a few million times by users who are unaware of their true nature.

While Google Play Protect is indeed faster now in detecting and removing bad actors, it appears that malicious apps have their ways to bypass its measures.

While Google is still powerless against hackers’ schemes, the Play Store is, by far, the safest place for any app. So the advice is the same, stick to Google’s store and avoid sideloading any software from suspicious sources. And lastly, think hard before you grant any software permissions to access your personal information.