On the Play Store, 17 Android apps were caught engaging to gain access to the user’s data. So Google has removed these 17 apps from its official Play Store. As per the reports, these apps were infected with Joker Malware, which is also called Bread Malware.
17 Android Apps Removed From Google Play Store
The security researchers at Zscaler, the IT Company, which is based in California, has identified these apps.
Viral Gandhi, a security researcher of Zscaler, said,
“This spyware is designed to steal SMS messages, contact lists, and device information, along with silently signing up the victim for premium wireless application protocol (WAP) services.”
These malicious apps were uploaded on Play Store earlier this month. However, they didn’t get a chance to gain popularity. These apps had more than 120,000 downloads. As Google notified about the 17 apps which tried to gain unauthorised access to the user’s data, the Android security team removed the apps from the play store.
These are the 17 Android apps removed from Play Store:
- All Good PDF Scanner
- Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
- Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons
- Tangram App Lock
- Direct Messenger
- Private SMS
- One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional Translator
- Style Photo Collage
- Meticulous Scanner
- Desire Translate
- Talent Photo Editor – Blur focus
- Care Message
- Part Message
- Paper Doc Scanner
- Blue Scanner
- Hummingbird PDF Converter – Photo to PDF
- All Good PDF Scanner
Google removed these apps and used the Play Protect service, but then also the user needs to check and remove the apps from the devices manually.
Earlier this month, Google has banned 6 new apps which were also infected with the same Joker malware. The security researchers from Pradeo reported these apps.
Before this, in July, also Google removed a few of the apps infected with Joker malware. Security researchers from Anquanke discovered these. Since 2017, Google has removed 1700 apps infected with Joker malware.