Google has removed as many as 17 applications last week from the Play Store after they were found to be infected by the Joker (aka Bread) malware.
The apps have been uploaded on the Play Store this month itself and were located by Zscaler, a cybersecurity firm. These apps were downloaded around 120,000 lakh times before they were detected.
“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,” Zscaler’s security researcher Viral Gandhi stated in a blog post.
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As per the information cited by Gandhi, the researchers at Zscaler ThreatLabZ had been constantly monitoring the Joker malware and that was how they came across these malicious apps.
The 17 infected apps removed from Google Play Store are:
- 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
The cloud security firm said that Joker is among the most prominent malware and it continually attacks Android-based devices.
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At the beginning of September, Google removed six apps that were infected by Joker malware after security researchers from a different firm informed the tech giant.
Earlier this July, Google removed a bunch of apps when a third cybersecurity firm alerted it to do so. These apps were uploaded in March this year and it had infected millions of users before being detected.
In January, the tech giant said that Joker is the most persistent malware and keeps coming back to threaten its users.
As word of caution, Zscaler has told users to keep an eye on the permissions which these applications seek and watch out for the risky permissions related to SMS, call logs, contacts, and more.
