Oops: Google Play Store unknowingly helps hackers affect people with a Hiddad.BZ adware. There is no doubt that controlling a major interactive shop is a complicated task: sometimes users cannot depend on it with full confidence. Users have to face the reality and educate themselves how malware variants could be recognized and bypassed. We’ll keep these advices for the end of the article, and now, let’s explain the situation that Google finds itself again.
Security reports clearly suggest that seven malicious applications managed to become available in the Google Play Store. Unsuspecting users might have noticed them entitled “Snaptube” or “tube.mate”. Both of these applications specialized in helping users download content from Youtube which basically involves video/music material. However, what descriptions of these programs did not include was the fact that they all concealed an Hiddad.BZ adware which occupied interfaces of infected devices with streams of online advertisements.
Once any of the seven indicated programs were installed into Android devices, “Music Mania” and its malicious elements are launched. Initiated process demands privileges of an administrator and will install plugins that actually are ad-based parasites. After agreeing with questionable conditions, people will be forced to witness tons of online advertisements. However, this is when the hackers take a clever strategy: if users want to escape ads, they will have to rate the application they just downloaded. And evaluation has to be 5 stars. This is a rather vicious attempt to make applications seem of a better quality to other potential users. If people do not rate the application as it is required, a flood of ads will not cease to an end.
This is not the first time that Google Play Store becomes a distributor of malware. Suspicious applications have been detected before and you should always try to stay away from applications that are not essential. In statistical terms, nearly a million installation processes have already allowed malicious applications to start residing in Android applications. Since it takes time to detect malware in Google Play Store, users have to think for themselves.
By becoming a developer for Google Play, a person has to agree to never attempt to receive good ratings in exchange of money or other resources. Clearly, this rule is broken by people who constructed the seven apps that hid Hiddad.BZ adware.
In the beginning of the article we promised to provide you with a couple of recommendations how you should avoid downloading malware from the Google Play Store. First of all, never waste space in your device by letting unnecessary software in. Secondly, always check the ratings. We know: after reading this article you might be judgmental to the given number of stars. However, read the comment section and see whether people are actually praising the application for its quality. Thirdly, check whether the app won’t require permissions to sensitive phone elements like microphone, camera if the app has nothing to do with these features. Google has already removed the questionable applications, but remain cautious as more of them can be available.
Source: welivesecurity.com.
Read "Malware threats in Google Play Store ask for a 5-star evaluation" in other languages
- Amenazas de malware en Google Play Store que pide una evaluación de 5 estrellas (es)
- Des logiciels malveillants menacent dans Google Play Store pour demander une évaluation 5 étoiles (fr)
- Google Play ストア内ã®ãƒžãƒ«ã‚¦ã‚§ã‚¢è„…å¨ãŒ5ã¤æ˜Ÿè©•ä¾¡ã‚’求ã‚ã‚‹ (jp)
- Ameaças malware na Google Play Store pedem uma avaliação de 5-estrelas (pt)
- Malware dreigingen in Google Play Store vragen voor een 5-ster beoordeling (nl)
