Avast, a Czech-based antivirus maker, has now discovered that around 21 Android apps on Google Play Store have hidden adware called HiddenAds. In such apps, the adware hides in a fun or useful application and tries to serve users intrusive ads outside the app. This is not the first time we’re hearing about this malware. In fact, it was first discovered in the year 2019. Apart from just hiding behind the app, this malware can sometimes even hide the app icon making it hard for the users to spot them and eventually uninstall them.
Avast has announced the name of all these 21 Android apps in its recent report. After the discovery, Google has removed most of these apps from its Play Store. With that said, we recommend uninstalling all these 21 Android apps from your smartphone. You can find the complete list down below.
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List of 21 Android apps that reportedly hides malware!
- Shoot Them
- Crush Car
- Rolling Scroll
- Helicopter Attack â New
- Assasin Legend â 2020 New
- Helicopter Shoot
- Rugby Pass
- Flying Skateboard
- Find the Differences â Puzzle Game
- Iron it
- Shooting Run
- Plant Monster
- Find Hidden
- Rotate Shape
- Jump Jump
- Sway Man
- Dessert Against
- Money Destroyer
- Cream Trip â New
- Props Rescue
- Find 5 Differences â 2020 NEW
As you can see, the list mostly contains fun game applications making it a perfect hidden spot for malware. All these infected apps have been downloaded around eight million times according to the report. As mentioned earlier, Google has removed most of these apps from its Play Store except for the bottom two. We’re talking about the Find 5 Differences – 2020 New and Find the Differences – Puzzle Game. There is no clear response from Google as to why these two apps are not removed from the store.
Most of these apps are published by unknown developers who might have used numerous social media channels to market it. This marketing, in turn, gives them many downloads along with positive reviews. With that said, you should stay away from these infected apps no matter how fun or interesting they seem. They are generally designed to be that way so that malware like HiddenAds can do their job nicely and easily.
This is not the first time Avast is reporting infected Android apps with such malware. Back in June, the antivirus firm reported around 30+ apps involved in fraud activities while in July, it caught 25 apps stealing Facebook credentials.
