A hundred applications on the Play Store are infected with a new malware called Soraka. What’s special about it is that it displays ads on the phone screen even when the phone is idle or locked.
Not a week, or almost a week, goes by without a security expert discovering a new piece of malware on the Play Store, Android’s application store. This time it’s exactly 104 applications, and they’re infected with a piece of malware called “Soraka”. Spotted at the end of last week, it hides in the code of the applications, and once installed on a smartphone, its mission is to display advertising banners. In short, it’s what we call adware.
Even when the screen is locked or in standby mode, the ads appear without the user’s knowledge, who obviously doesn’t know that it’s related to one of the applications they’ve downloaded. It’s not very dangerous because it doesn’t access personal data, and it doesn’t steal it, but for hackers, it can generate millions of euros or dollars in revenue.
A malware that also knows how to be discreet.
Why? Because White Ops Threat Intelligence reports that this malware is present on 4.6 million smartphones! And why does this kind of malware still manage to trick Google and the Play Store’s detection systems? Because it is malware that seems to take a long time to activate. It doesn’t strike right away and waits for a while before polluting the smartphone with advertisements.
Moreover, it would be able to detect an antivirus to avoid appearing. All these strategies have enabled it to trap a hundred applications and millions of devices. One thing is sure, Google is informed and the 104 applications will disappear from the Play Store. And it is obviously advisable to uninstall them. The list is on this page.
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