No matter what you say, the Google Play Store is not actually a risk-free place to get apps. For example, recently, security experts have uncovered a new threat aiming to steal personal info from millions of Android phones. In other words, security experts have discovered malicious Android apps that have been downloaded millions of times.
This report comes from McAfee Mobile Security, which confirmed the characteristics of the malicious Android apps. Basically, the attack can infect popular applications with a malicious software library. Afterward, it can start performing tasks without your consent!
How Big of a Risk Do These Android Apps Possess?
When you install contaminated Android apps on your device, criminals can use them to get all your sensitive data. That includes WiFi history, the list of the Bluetooth devices connected to the phone, nearby GPS locations, and which apps you are using. In short, the apps will get a high level of access permission to your phone.
To make things worse, you might be helping the hackers to perform ad fraud by installing these Android apps. That is, the bug can click rogue advertisements in the background, which will make the hackers a lot of money without you knowing.
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Now as you can guess, these infected Android apps will also slow down your device. The bug will carry out a lot of background processes, which will leave little to no headroom for you to carry out tasks with your phone. So, how bad is the condition at the moment?
The research team has found more than 60 Android applications with this third-party malicious library. And the worse part is that the apps have more than 100 million downloads. The team has informed Google about the issue, and Google seemingly has blocked 30 of the apps so far. You can check the whole list of infected Android apps here.
