Google detects "Joker" malware in 11 apps. Uninstall them now itself! Here's the list of the apps
A new modification of Joker malware made it back to the Google Play Store and in 11 applications. Google has eliminated 11 apps from the Play Store which were affected by the infamous Joker malware. Google has been tracking these applications since 2017. Check Point researchers found a new modification of the Joker malware that was present inside legitimate apps. These hackers discovered a method to get users to subscribe to premium services out of their knowledge. Since hackers developed this old method of getting inside apps they could pass Google Play’s protections.
Joker is one of the most commonly found malware for Android and has produced its way to apps on Google Play Store in the past. Google in January had declared that it had eliminated over 1,700 apps that included the malware Bread, also recognized as Joker.
Google Play Protect identified and eliminated 1.7k unique Bread apps from the Play Store before being downloaded by users. Bread apps originally did SMS fraud, but have mostly rejected this for WAP billing following the initiation of new Play policies limiting the use of the SEND_SMS permission and expanded coverage by Google Play Protect.
If you doubt you may have one of these affected apps on your device, here’s what you should do:
1) Uninstall the affected app from the device.
2) Monitor your mobile and credit-card bills to notice if you have been signed up for any subscriptions and unsubscribe if possible.
3) Install a security solution to restrict future problems.
As of now, the new Joker malware has been detected on 11 apps on the Google Play Store. Here’s the list of the apps that have been halted from the Play Store now:
com.peason.lovinglovemessage
com.file.recovefiles
com.LPlocker.lockapps
com.remindme.alram
com.training.memorygame
com.imagecompress.android
com.contact.withme.texts
com.hmvoice.friendsms
com.relax.relaxation.androidsms
com.cheery.message.sendsms (two different instances)
