Malware-Infested Apps Threaten Over 3 Million Android Users

Credit: geralt

A newly discovered malware on the Googe Play Store was found to be stealing money from millions of Android users. Called “Autolycos” by security researcher Maxime Ingrao, the nefarious program was detected in at least eight apps that collectively had millions of installs. Fortunately, the reported applications were removed by Google from the Play Store and the affected devices.

What makes Autolycos particularly dangerous is that it illicitly subscribes people to the premium packages of infected apps. As a result, affected Android users won’t likely know that these apps are draining their bank accounts, and significant sums might have already been taken by the time the ruse is detected and dealt with.

Infected Apps

To ensure that Autolycos apps gain traction, many fraudulent developers leveraged social media marketing, as they ran paid ad campaigns on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. In fact, one of the apps in question, Razer Keyboard & Theme, ran 74 social media ad campaigns. Some also used bots to generate positive reviews on the Play Store. These contributed to why six of the eight malware-infested apps had more than 50,000 users before they were taken down by Google.

• Vlog Star Media Editor – Over 1 million installs
• Creative 3D Launcher – Over 1 million installs
• Funny Camera – Over 500,000 installs
• Wow Beauty Camera – Over 100,000 installs
• GIF Emoji Keyboard – Over 100,000 installs
• Razer Keyboard & Theme – Over 50,000 installs
• Freeglow Camera – 1.0.0 – Over 5,000 installs
• Coco Camera v1.1 – Over 1,000 installs

Even though Autolycos-infested apps were already removed, a new iteration of the malware could always reappear, backed by another campaign across a multitude of applications. After all, this isn’t the first time an attack of this nature occurred. In 2021 and earlier parts of this year, the Play Store was repeatedly struck by an array of apps carrying the Joker malware and its iterations. As such, mobile users will have to improve the security of their devices to curb these threats.

A Combination of Security Measures

The Play Store has a mobile security functionality in place, Google Play Protect, which serves as the first layer of defense for Android users. It is advisable to keep the feature perpetually activated since it routinely scans all the apps installed on a mobile device. However, relying on it won’t be enough to deter sophisticated threats like the Autolycos malware. Recent cybersecurity statistics show that it only detected 68.8% of mobile threats in real-time and 76.6% with reference sets.

Android users can go for a top-tier mobile security platform to afford their phones comprehensive protection with a far better detection rate than Play Protect. It’s best to stick with well-known and highly recommended brands like BitDefender, Trend Micro, Avast, Norton, and Kaspersky since a study by AV-Comparatives revealed that two-thirds of Android mobile security platforms do not work. The aforesaid brands performed well in tests.

To complement the features of a mobile security platform, users can also leverage a VPN solution. VPN platforms hide user information and stop applications and individuals from accessing a network connection. It even keeps ISPs from slowing down the internet service and grants access to geo-locked websites.

Furthermore, Google is known for quickly acting upon issues that have been reported by multiple blogs and news channels. Such is the case with the Autolycos bug. And so, Google would likely upgrade its mobile security pretty soon.