The alarm is sounding again among Android smartphones, this time following the work done by McAfee experts. While there is talk of LetMeSpy legal spyware shut down, renowned researchers have confirmed the existence of ben 43 adware apps in the Google Play Store, ready to fill infected smartphones with advertisements to provide juicy monetary revenue to the bad guys. Considering that they have been downloaded by over 2.5 million users, the warning is quite serious.
More Infected Android Apps on Google Play Store, Beware!
According to the report published by McAfee’s mobile research team, the operation is quite intuitive. When one of the apps in question is installed on an Android smartphone, it appears to operate correctly, providing the promised functionality. Specifically, it is about streaming services, messaging and news aggregators. After some weeks, the apps get orders from the remote server initiating the adware campaign.
Before long those services will start fill your smartphone with advertisingbut only when the screen is off. In this way, advertisers will notice the activity of the apps, paying the bad actors to serve the ads, even if the user doesn’t see them. As soon as the screen is turned on, the Android system stops the “show” and restores the typical activities of the device.
In short, in addition to being adware, these apps consume Internet data, significantly reduce the range and scam advertisers. In addition, they can also collect sensitive user data and profile them. To notice their activities, you need to go to the settings, therefore to “Battery Usage”, checking which services have the highest energy consumption.
It should be noted, however, that the affected apps were promptly removed from the Google Play Store for Android and now users will only have to proceed with the uninstallation. Fortunately, finally, Europen users are not particularly impressed: the main target was in fact the South Korean user, according to the first analysis by McAfee.
