Matsuda Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Google has been forced to remove almost 300 apps from its Play Store after learning that apps were being hijacked for DDoS attacks, an attack that ESET warned its followers on social media about in early August. Once they became aware of the attack Google started the process of removing them, “we identified approximately 300 apps associated with the issue, blocked them from the Play Store, and we’re in the process of removing them from all affected devices”, said a Google spokesperson. “The researchers’ findings, combined with our own analysis, have enabled us to better protect Android users, everywhere”. ESET detection engineer, Lukas Stefanko, first noticed the vulnerability 20 days before it was removed from the store and published technical details to keep users up-to-date, “”We detected this infiltration as Android/HiddenApp and Android/Clickerand, plus we were one of the first to disclose this threat and how to get rid of it”, said Stefanko After discovering the issue and the new malicious apps, he immediately reported his findings to the Google Security team and shared the warning with users, “once I discovered this threat we immediately informed users through our social networks to be aware of these malicious apps and with instructions how to uninstall it”, he said. If you are worried about inadvertently crossing paths with one of these nasty apps, Lukas has some helpful words to guide you in the right direction. “for people that only recently removed one of these infiltrators, or for people that could stumble upon them in the Play store, my advice would be to read comments and app reviews. You should mainly focus on the negative ones, make sure you have installed up-to-date security software and be aware when applications that you’ve installed change name or app icon”. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Google has been forced to remove almost 300 apps from its Play Store after learning that apps were being hijacked for DDoS attacks, an attack that ESET warned its followers on social media about in early August. Once they became aware of the attack Google started the process of removing them, “we identified approximately 300 apps associated with the issue, blocked them from the Play Store, and we’re in the process of removing them from all affected devices”, said a Google spokesperson. “The researchers’ findings, combined with our own analysis, have enabled us to better protect Android users, everywhere”. ESET detection engineer, Lukas Stefanko, first noticed the vulnerability 20 days before it was removed from the store and published technical details to keep users up-to-date, “”We detected this infiltration as Android/HiddenApp and Android/Clickerand, plus we were one of the first to disclose this threat and how to get rid of it”, said Stefanko After discovering the issue and the new malicious apps, he immediately reported his findings to the Google Security team and shared the warning with users, “once I discovered this threat we immediately informed users through our social networks to be aware of these malicious apps and with instructions how to uninstall it”, he said. If you are worried about inadvertently crossing paths with one of these nasty apps, Lukas has some helpful words to guide you in the right direction. “for people that only recently removed one of these infiltrators, or for people that could stumble upon them in the Play store, my advice would be to read comments and app reviews. You should mainly focus on the negative ones, make sure you have installed up-to-date security software and be aware when applications that you’ve installed change name or app icon”. Source
Knightmare Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 I noticed that with one of my apps: Power Toggles. Does this mean that the app is unsafe altogether or am I okay with downloading it from another location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 14 hours ago, Knightmare said: or am I okay with downloading it from another location? Like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knightmare Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 6 hours ago, pc71520 said: Like? https://www.apk4fun.com/apk/1315/ https://power-toggles.en.uptodown.com www.apkmirror.com Any of these sites have the apk file for the latest version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 19 hours ago, Knightmare said: https://www.apk4fun.com/apk/1315/ https://power-toggles.en.uptodown.com https://www.apkmirror.com/ Are these sites Trusted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMan Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 I can't speak for the others, but apkmirror is safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMan Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Why doesn't Google post lists of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knightmare Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 11 hours ago, pc71520 said: Are these sites Trusted? WoT says they are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 10 hours ago, Knightmare said: WOT says I No longer Trust WOT https://rejzor.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/web-of-trust-wot-privacy-scandal/ https://blogs.msmvps.com/spywaresucks/2016/11/07/web-of-trust-wot-scandal/ https://observatory.mozilla.org/analyze.html?host=www.mywot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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