Google has removed this week 17 Android applications from the official Play Store. The 17 apps, spotted by security researchers from Zscaler, were infected with the Joker (aka Bread) malware.
“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 security researcher Viral Gandhi said this week.
The 17 malicious apps were uploaded on the Play Store this month and didn’t get a chance to gain a following, having been downloaded more than 120,000 times before being detected.
The names of the 17 apps were:
All Good PDF Scanner
Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts and 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
Following its internal procedures, Google removed the apps from the Play Store, used the Play Protect service to disable the apps on infected devices, but users still need to manually intervene and remove the apps from their devices.
