According to the cybersecurity research group BitDefender (opens in a new tab), at least 60,000 Android apps contained adware in the last six months.
Adware is software that often accompanies a program that a user intentionally downloads, such as an app, that is designed to make money for criminals by displaying ads in the foreground or background of the smartphone to which the app is downloaded. application. Adware can drain your smartphone's battery and cause it to overheat.
The malicious apps were not listed on the official Google Play store, but were found on third-party app store websites that could be found using Google Search. Third-party apps mimic original Play Store apps, such as ad-free Netflix, YouTube/TikTok, free VPNs, and fake security apps, among others.
When a user opens a third-party website via Google search, they are redirected to a random advertisement page that pretends to be a legitimate user downloading the desired application, but actually installs adware on the device. After opening the program, an error message will appear and the uninstall option will be enabled. Whether the user clicks "delete" or not, the app stays in the background of the phone.
The cybersecurity firm says the malware, which has been active since at least October 2022, could not have been detected without BitDefender's new App Anomaly technology.
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As ExtremeTech (opens in a new window) noted, 55% of malware-infected programs specifically target users in the US, while South Korea, Brazil and Germany also rank highly in the results of BitDefender.
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