As numerous as 16 malicious applications with in excess of 20 million cumulative downloads have been taken down from the Google Perform Retail store following they were being caught committing cell advert fraud.
The Clicker malware masqueraded as seemingly harmless utilities like cameras, forex/device converters, QR code viewers, take note-taking applications, and dictionaries, amongst others, in a bid to trick buyers into downloading them, cybersecurity company McAfee mentioned.
The list of offending applications is as follows –
- Superior-Speed Digital camera (com.hantor.CozyCamera) – 10,000,000+ downloads
- Good Activity Supervisor (com.james.SmartTaskManager) – 5,000,000+ downloads
- Flashlight+ (kr.caramel.flash_furthermore) – 1,000,000+ downloads
- 달력메모장 (com.smh.memocalendar) – 1,000,000+ downloads
- K-Dictionary (com.joysoft.wordBook) – 1,000,000+ downloads
- BusanBus (com.kmshack.BusanBus) – 1,000,000+ downloads
- Flashlight+ (com.candlencom.candleprotest) – 500,000+ downloads
- Swift Take note (com.movinapp.quicknote) – 500,000+ downloads
- Forex Converter (com.smartwho.SmartCurrencyConverter) – 500,000+ downloads
- Joycode (com.joysoft.barcode) – 100,000+ downloads
- EzDica (com.joysoft.ezdica) – 100,000+ downloads
- Instagram Profile Downloader (com.schedulezero.instapp) – 100,000+ downloads
- Ez Notes (com.meek.tingboard) – 100,000+ downloads
- 손전등 (com.candlencom.flashlite) – 1,000+ downloads
- 계산기 (com.doubleline.calcul) – 100+ downloads
- Flashlight+ (com.dev.imagevault) – 100+ downloads
The Clicker application, at the time mounted and released, unleashes its fraudulent functionality that allows the malware to covertly go to bogus web-sites and simulate ad clicks without the victims’ expertise.
“This may possibly cause weighty network targeted visitors and take in electrical power without having consumer recognition for the duration of the time it generates gain for the danger actor at the rear of this malware,” McAfee researcher SangRyol Ryu said.
To additional conceal its legitimate motive, the app can take into account the app’s set up time this kind of that the suspicious activity will not kick in inside of the initial a person hour of downloading the application. It also incorporates a randomized delay in between to keep underneath the radar.
The conclusions get there two months soon after McAfee found out a dozen Android adware apps distributed on the Google Participate in Retail store, which harbored a malware pressure referred to as HiddenAds that were observed to execute mechanically without the need of any consumer interaction.
“Clicker malware targets illicit marketing revenue and can disrupt the cellular advertising and marketing ecosystem,” Ryu reported. “Destructive habits is cleverly hidden from detection.”
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Some parts of this article are sourced from:
thehackernews.com