Google's Android has close to 75-percent of the smartphone OS market share in the world and this apparently attracts cyber criminals to prey on naive mobile users to steal financial or some times sensitive data in the storage.
The search engine giant has tried hard in improving the security in terms of screening of mobile apps entering the Play store, but it looks like there is room for improvement, as a new report has emerged that the infamous Joker malware has made its way back to the Android ecosystem.
Cyber security experts at Check Point Research has detected 11 Joker malware-infested Android apps on Google Play store. They all perform functions as legitimate apps, but in the background, they try to subscribe to premium services and siphon off money without the mobile phone's owner consent.
Check Point experts said the Joker malware code was found to be hidden in the 'Android Manifest' through .dex file where the app's data such as name, icon and permissions are stored.
"In an attempt to minimize Joker’s fingerprint, the actor behind it hid the dynamically loaded dex file from sight while still ensuring it is able to load – a technique which is well-known to developers of malware for Windows PCs. This new variant now hides the malicious dex file inside the application as Base64 encoded strings, ready to be decoded and loaded," Check Point Research report said.
Taking cognisance of the issue, Google has reportedly removed all the 11 malicious apps (list below) from the Play store. Mobile phone users who have already installed them, are advised to uninstall them immediately. Also, check the debit/credit card bills for charges, which you don't remember to have subscribed to any services. If you find anything strange, unsubscribe it now.
List of Joker malware-laced Android apps removed from Google Play store:
com.imagecompress.android
com.contact.withme.texts
com.hmvoice.friendsms
com.relax.relaxation.androidsms
com.cheery.message.sendsms (x 2)
com.peason.lovinglovemessage
com.file.recovefiles
com.LPlocker.lockapps
com.remindme.alram
com.training.memorygame
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