Google Play Apps May Have Infected Phones With Malware

As a nation of tech users, we are all at risk from today’s high-tech issues and problems. This includes the infection of mobile devices and PCs with malware and viruses, which can then create huge issues. A recent report has shown just how quickly these issues can spiral out of control after it was revealed that apps from Google Play had infected millions of smartphones and mobile devices with dangerous malware.

It is thought that around 50 apps from Google Play may be responsible for this malware infection, and this has caused issues for millions of mobile device users. In fact, according to reports more than twenty million devices may have been affected in what is being described as the second biggest malware infection issue to ever affect Google Play. This means that millions will now be looking for an anti-malware solution to try and deal with the issue.  

Financial impact of the outbreak

Officials have said that as a result of the outbreak, millions of mobile users have had fraudulent SMS messages sent to premium numbers and many have had charges on their accounts without even knowing. The malware is known as ExpensiveWall and has been described as the ‘ultimate spying tool’ that is able to capture images, record audio, and access sensitive information. The malware is also able to access user locations and IP addresses.

It is reported that the software has been downloaded more than four million times and has affected many apps. Experts have described this malware as a new variant that is able to bypass the anti-malware protection that has been put into place by Google Play. While infected apps have been removed from the Google Play store now, they will still be present on the mobile devices of users that downloaded them prior to their removal.

With cybercrime having become such a big issues over recent years, it is not surprising that so many people are now worried about the impact of this malicious software. Many may have already had anti-virus and anti-malware protection on their devices but this particular malware has managed to evade these pretty successfully. Those with infected apps are now being strongly urged to remove them from their devices to avoid any further problems.

The issue with the malware was identified in early August by a research company called Check Point. Officials from the company contacted Google Play to advise on their findings and Google then removed the infected apps from the store. However, by the time this was picked up, the apps in question had been downloaded by consumers millions of times.   

Malware infections have become a huge issue over recent years, particularly with the growing use of mobile devices to go online and access the internet. A range of issues can stem from being infected with malware, as the effects of this recent outbreak have shown. The malware is able to access all sorts of information, which puts the security of users at risk.