It seems like every other day Android users have to suffer through yet another form of malware that is wreaking havoc, so much so that it has probably made a few Android users consider shifting to iOS since the Apple App Store doesn’t have to face nearly as many malware threats as its Google owned counterpart.
The newest malware that is making the rounds on the Google Play Store is particularly sinister because of the fact that it disables the only real protection that Google has against malware on the app store, namely the security mechanism that detects malware in the first place. While it is shocking that Google only has one security protocol in place after the myriad problems that have occurred all of which have had an enormous impact on the user experience of the average Android user, the more important thing to note is that there is currently a form of malware that is preventing even this singular security protocol to act in the first place.
The malware in question is a Trojan. What it essentially does is that it has a system icon that makes it look like an innocuous app, one that really doesn’t need to be thought twice about before it ends up getting downloaded. According to Kaspersky Lab, once the downloading is completed, the malware starts collecting all kinds of information that you would want to keep private. Things like your device’s IMEI number as well as the country that you are using the device in are all going to end up in the hands of the person that made the malware to begin with.
The creator of the malware would then be able to do anything with the data that they desire. This is obviously something that is going to make a lot of people quite nervous, and it is the main reason behind why a lot of people are criticizing Google and its operating system for letting this happen and not taking enough security measures that would have prevented such a thing from happening all in all.
Another thing to note is that the app leaves positive reviews for other malware infected apps which increase the likelihood that those apps will be downloaded as well. Not only that but most of the time these networks of apps are the result of a single group which means that someone or the other is targeting Android users and trying to acquire their data. This is a serious matter that Google really should be looking into because of the fact that it puts pretty much all Android users at risk, and if attacks like this keep happening then it seems unlikely that anyone would want to keep using this OS at any point in the future.
Photo: Bloomberg / Getty Images
Read next: Privacy Activists Asking Google to Take Action against Android Bloatware
The newest malware that is making the rounds on the Google Play Store is particularly sinister because of the fact that it disables the only real protection that Google has against malware on the app store, namely the security mechanism that detects malware in the first place. While it is shocking that Google only has one security protocol in place after the myriad problems that have occurred all of which have had an enormous impact on the user experience of the average Android user, the more important thing to note is that there is currently a form of malware that is preventing even this singular security protocol to act in the first place.
The malware in question is a Trojan. What it essentially does is that it has a system icon that makes it look like an innocuous app, one that really doesn’t need to be thought twice about before it ends up getting downloaded. According to Kaspersky Lab, once the downloading is completed, the malware starts collecting all kinds of information that you would want to keep private. Things like your device’s IMEI number as well as the country that you are using the device in are all going to end up in the hands of the person that made the malware to begin with.
The creator of the malware would then be able to do anything with the data that they desire. This is obviously something that is going to make a lot of people quite nervous, and it is the main reason behind why a lot of people are criticizing Google and its operating system for letting this happen and not taking enough security measures that would have prevented such a thing from happening all in all.
Another thing to note is that the app leaves positive reviews for other malware infected apps which increase the likelihood that those apps will be downloaded as well. Not only that but most of the time these networks of apps are the result of a single group which means that someone or the other is targeting Android users and trying to acquire their data. This is a serious matter that Google really should be looking into because of the fact that it puts pretty much all Android users at risk, and if attacks like this keep happening then it seems unlikely that anyone would want to keep using this OS at any point in the future.
Photo: Bloomberg / Getty Images
Read next: Privacy Activists Asking Google to Take Action against Android Bloatware
