Recently, two more spyware applications have been discovered to exist on the Google Play store with a total download volume of up to 1.5 million times.
According to The Hacker News, these two file manager apps have been found to be spyware, putting the privacy and security of about 1.5 million Android users at risk. The app is fraudulent and secretly sends sensitive user data to servers in China.
security company Detection and alerts come from Pradeo, a mobile. The report says that both the spyware is File Recovery and Data Recovery (com.spot.music.filedate) with more than 1 million downloads and File Manager (com.file.box.master.gkd) has more than 500,000 downloads setting. These seemingly innocuous Android apps employ malicious tactics such as automatically launching when the device reboots without user interaction.
Contrary to the information on Google Play that ensures that no data is collected, Pradeo’s analysis tool has discovered various personal information collected without the user’s knowledge. The data stolen by the app includes contacts, multimedia files (images, audio, and video), real-time location, country code, network provider, operating system version, brand, and model of the device
Alarming is the large amount of data transmitted by this spyware. Each application makes hundreds of transfers of a significant amount of data from malicious activities. Once the data is collected, it will be sent to multiple servers in China.
These spyware developers used sneaky techniques to appear more legitimate and make it difficult to uninstall. Hackers have increased app downloads to create a false sense of reliability. Both apps have permission to hide icons on the home screen making it difficult for users to uninstall.
According to Pradeo, individuals should be cautious when downloading apps, especially those without ratings despite having a large user base. It is important to read and understand app permissions before accepting them to block. Organizations should make it a priority to educate their employees on mobile threats and set up automatic detection and response systems on devices to combat potential attacks
