Counterfeit apps threaten to penetrate Android devices

Tomorrow – Everyone generally expects to download applications from an official Google Play store, safely and without malware.

However, experts warn that some applications are only "wrappers" and offer no real functionality, but rather scan the user's phone with ads.

Trend Micro warned that millions of people were downloading apps claiming to offer a host of features, but that they only worked as channels to show annoying ads to those who installed them on their computers.

The company has found about 85 applications, which have been downloaded in total about 9 million times, all working in the same way and using similar code.

One of these apps claims to be a "universal TV remote", while another focuses on car games. After downloading one of these apps and others, users will see a full screen ad, and then continue to see the ads in each one. Press any button.

In many cases, applications seem to disappear from the phone without appearing on the home screen, but continue to be broadcast.

These ads run every 15 to 30 minutes, likely generating revenue for developers and frustrating users. As always, these applications can have a significant impact on the phone's battery life, as the phone continues to run in the background and can prevent the phone from "sleeping". .

Although many of these apps have been removed from the Google Play Store, a number of them still exist on the online store for Android users.

The best way to avoid hacking your phone through ads is to install a malware scanner. Trend Micro has one of these applications, which can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.

RT