Windows 10: Google pulls seven stalker apps identified by Avast from Play Store

Brink · Jul 19, 2019

Mobile threat researchers at Avast have detected seven apps on the Google Play Store that were all likely designed by a Russian developer to allow people to stalk employees, romantic partners, or kids.

Avast detected and reported four of the apps on Tuesday to Google, which removed them from the Play Store. The researchers detected the fifth, sixth, and seventh apps on Wednesday, reported these to Google, and these have also been removed.

The apps have been installed a combined 130,000 times, with the most-installed apps being Spy Tracker, and SMS Tracker, both with more than 50,000 installs.

The apps require the snoop to have access to the phone they want to spy on. The snoop can download the apps from the Google Play Store and install them on the target device. The app then prompts the person who installed the app to enter their email address and password. The spying app is sent there.

The apps also help the snoop to hide the surveillance by providing directions to uninstall anything noticeable to the phone’s owner. Upon setup there is no app icon, so the targeted person does not see any sign of the stalkerware app installed on their phone.

The apps are able to track the surveilled person’s location, collect their contacts, SMS and call history.

The apps were published under the following names:

Track Employees Check Work Phone Online Spy Free

Spy Kids Tracker

Phone Cell Tracker

Mobile Tracking

Spy Tracker

SMS Tracker

Employee Work Spy

Nikolaos Chrysaidos, Avast’s head of mobile threat intelligence and security, identified the apps using Avast’s mobile threat detection platform apklab.io.

“These apps are highly unethical and problematic for people’s privacy and shouldn’t be on the Google Play Store,” Chrysaidos said. “They promote criminal behavior, and can be abused by employers, stalkers or abusive partners to spy on their victims. We classify such apps as stalkerware, and using apklab.io we can identify such apps quickly, and collaborate with Google to get them removed.”
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Read more: Google pulls stalker apps identified by Avast | Avast

:)

Brink · Jul 19, 2019

Malicious lifestyle apps found on Google Play store

A total of 50 malicious apps have managed to bypass Google's security checks and land on the Google Play store, leading to millions of installs on Android devices.

It was only last week that researchers from Check Point uncovered a total of six apps laden with the PreAMo ad fraud malware on Google Play which had been installed 90 million times.

Now, the cybersecurity team from Avast have found a further 50 apps relating to lifestyle services which masquerade as legitimate software but are actually adware, and these malicious apps have been downloaded a total of 30 million times.

On Tuesday, Avast published a report on the discovery, in which the apps are linked to each other through third-party libraries that "bypass the background service restrictions present in newer Android versions."

"Although the bypassing itself is not explicitly forbidden on the Play Store, Avast detects it as Android:Agent-SEB [PUP], because apps using these libraries waste the user's battery and make the device slower," the researchers say. "The applications use the libraries to continuously display more and more ads to the user, going against Play Store rules."
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Read more: Malicious lifestyle apps found on Google Play, 30 million installs recorded | ZDNet

MCCshreyas · Jul 19, 2019

where are apps saved download from google play store

Hi Jagannathkadam

You cannot download apps from google play store on Windows Phone. There is store app on your Windows phone. Search in app list. You can only download apps through Windows store on your phone. The downloaded apps will shown up in app list.

Mindweaver · Jul 19, 2019

New DANGEROUS google play requirement

I understand that but I still think users themselves need to look at permissions lists/ToS further. I check them thoroughly (google play listing and other websites dealing with security) before I even think about downloading the app.

I just think the whole play store needs an overhaul bad. They focus way to much on making it look different every 2 months instead of actually focusing on clean apps and keeping tabs on bad developers and bad user reviews (tons of the reviews are very misleading and often times are jibberish or wrong)
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Oh yea I think so as well and yea the play store is 90% horrible apps and maybe 10% good apps.. The 10% good apps are buried in the trash. I use to browse the Google play store everyday.. But now I might look once a week. The amount of in game purchase apps is ridiculous.. I wish that feature would go the way of the dodo bird.

Windows 10: Google pulls seven stalker apps identified by Avast from Play Store

Google pulls seven stalker apps identified by Avast from Play Store

Google pulls seven stalker apps identified by Avast from Play Store

Google pulls seven stalker apps identified by Avast from Play Store

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