Eight million android users tricked into downloading 85 adware apps from Google Play

Dozens of mechanical man adware apps disguised as photo-editing apps and games are caught serving ads that might take over users’ screens as a part of a deceitful money-making theme.

Security firm Trend smallaforementioned it found eighty five individual apps downloaded over eight million times from Google Play — all of that have since been far from the app store.

More typically than not adware apps can run on a user’s device and canmutely serve and click on ads within thebackground and while not the user’s informationto get ad revenue. however these apps were notably brazen and sneaky, one in all the researchers aforementioned.

“It isn’t your ordinary adware family,” aforementioned Ecular Xu, a mobile threat response engineer at Trend small. “Apart from displaying advertisements that square measuretoughto shut, it employs distinctive techniques to evade detection through user behavior and time-based triggers.”

The researchers discovered that the apps would keep a record after they were put in and sit dormant for around half-an-hour. once the delay, the app would hide its icon and build a crosscut on the user’s home screen, the safety firm aforementioned. That, they say, helped to safeguard the app from being deleted if the user determinedto pull and drop the crosscut to the “uninstall” section of the screen.

“These ads square measure shown fully screen,” said Xu. “Users square measure forced to look atthe fulllength of the ad before having the abilityto shut it or return to app itself.”

When the app unlatched, it displayed ads on the user’s home screen. The code additionally checks to formpositiveit doesn’t show an equivalent ad too ofttimes, the researchers aforementioned.

Worse, the ads are often remotely organized by the fraudster, permitting ads to be displayed a lot ofofttimes than the default 5 minute intervals.

Trend small provided an inventory of the apps — as well as Super Selfie Camera, Cos Camera, Pop Camera and One Stroke Line Puzzle — all of that had 1,000,000 downloads every.

Users on the point of install the apps had a dead giveaway: most of the apps had appalling reviews, several of thathad as several one-star reviews as they did five-stars, with users repiningconcerning the deluge of pop-up ads.

Google doesn’tusuallytreat app removals on the far side acknowledging their removal from Google Play.