With Google Play, found 42 virus applications

experts ESET found Google Play Store 42 viral applications that are downloaded over 8 million times. All they could unobscured display banner ads on the entire screen. At the same time, many had a fairly high rating, because the claimed function they performed.

Among these applications were different video downloaders, zametochnikiTools for reminders and games. Formally, the developers are different, but actually in the background of all of them communicate with one and the same remote server.

Applications sent out full details about the smartphone, including the model name, interface language, the volume free memory and a list of used Facebook and Google. The answer to these information was a special code to run certain ads.

And usually banners started only after a certain time after unlocking the device. This delay makes it possible not only to cover their tracks, but also pass the test of the smartphone built-in security tools procedure.

In some cases, on the basis of data from a remote server application can hide its icon and create a shortcut in its place. Removing it from your phone, the app itself is deposited in the memory and continued to work in the background.

If after running the banner the user tries to find the cause of the latter among the running programs, the malware in this case disguised as Facebook or the Google services, using their icons.

In the list of installed malware applications can be hidden under the package name com.google.xxx. This is another trick that the user can not manually find the virus and remove it. In addition, some of the security tools on smartphones automatically ignore processes with names of this form.

Google has already removed all 42 applications with advertising, but fraudsters continue to distribute them in alternative stores in the form of APK-files. If you have recently installed the malware, check that they are now in Google Play. If not, they are recommended to remove, and the smartphone - check for suspicious activity using antivirus.