Remove these 35 malware apps on your Android

Official app stores are the safest way to find and download new software on your smartphone, but they are not without their problems. Google Play Store has protections to keep malicious apps out, Occasionally, some sneak past unnoticed.thirty five Such apps have just been discovered hiding in the Play Store. If you downloaded any of them on your Android device, delete them now.

Bitdefender, a cybersecurity technology company, published a report on WednesdayOn August 17th, we identified a new batch of 35 malicious apps in the Play Store. These apps are sophisticated deceptions.They trick users into downloading them, each pretending to be an app that the average Android user likes to use. However, when the user installs the app, it changes its name and app icon and remains hidden on the device.

They often switch the icon to something associated with Settings, making itself an alias for the real Settings app. It makes you think there is. These apps won’t even show up in your recent apps list, making them even harder to find in everyday use.

The purpose of these apps is to display an obnoxious amount of advertisements. These ads are not only annoying, but also generate revenue for malware app developers. To make matters worse, developers run these ads from their own frameworks, which bypass protections typically implemented by Android. This allows developers to link to malware through these ads, increasing the risk.

Bitdefender detects these types of apps using real-time behavior technology that identifies apps using techniques known to be associated with fake or malicious software.

Below is the full list of apps discovered in the report. Edited by Tom’s GuideIf you download these apps to your device, remove them immediately. Of course, the app’s name and app icon may have changed. This means that you should pay close attention to your research. Look for apps you know weren’t on your PC before, such as utility apps or settings apps. device.

• Walls light – wallpaper pack: 100K+
• Big Emoji – Keyboard: 100K+
• Grad Wallpapers – 3D Backgrounds: 100K+
• Engine Wallpaper – Live & 3D: 100K+
• Stock Wallpapers – 4K & HD: 100K+
• EffectMania – Photo Editor: 100K+
• Art Filters – Deep Photo Effects: 100K+
• Fast Emoji Keyboard: 100K+
• Create stickers for Whatsapp. 100K+
• Math Solver – Camera Helper: 100K+
• Photopix Effects – Art Filters: 100K+
• LED Theme – Colorful Keyboard: 100K+
• Keyboard – Fun Emojis, Stickers: 50K+
• Smart Wi-Fi: 10K+
• My GPS location: 10K+
• Image warp camera: 100K
• Art Girls Wallpaper HD: 100K+
• Cat simulator: 50K+
• Smart QR Creator: 10K+
• Colorize old photos: 500+
• GPS location finder: 100K
• girl art wallpaper: 10K+
• Smart QR Scanner: 50K+
• GPS location map: 100K
• Volume control: 50K+
• Secret Horoscope: 10K+
• Smart GPS Location: 10K+
• Anime Stamp Master: 100K
• Personality charging show: 100K
• sleep sounds: 100K
• QR Creator: 10K+
• Media volume slider: 10K+
• Secret Astrology: 10K+
• Color your photo: 10K+
• Phi 4K Wallpaper – Anime HD: 50K+

How to avoid downloading malware-infected apps

Malware apps are deceptive and cunning and do not advertise themselves as malicious on the Play Store. But they often surrender themselves in several different ways. You can avoid downloading to your Android device if you pay attention to the red flags.

If an app has many installs but few or no reviews, avoid it. Bitdefender found apps like GPS Location Maps with over 100,000 downloads. zero review. Conversely, if there are reviews, take a closer look at them. If most are poorly written, bogus, or seem to be written about another app, that’s a bad sign.

Be aware of the permissions your app requests. For example, it makes sense for a GPS app to request the user’s location, but not for a camera or microphone. Also beware of apps that request special permissions. Most of the apps you download have no business asking for accessibility permissions. This indicates that the software is trying to do something fishy in the background.

The Play Store hides the most malware-infected apps, but Android isn’t the only one to deal with this problem. Researchers have recently discovered several malicious apps With both the iOS and macOS App Stores, it’s a reminder that fans of both Apple and Android need to be careful every time they download an app.