Editing photos on your smartphone is now quick and easy, thanks to
numerous photo apps. But apparently, there were also some applications
on the Google Play Store that were after your pictures.
The
security company Trend Micro has found 29 apps in the Play Store aimed
at generating user traffic and stealing their photos. Meanwhile, Google
has removed the fraudulent apps from the Play Store, but they have been
downloaded millions of times before and have already done a lot of
damage.
The apps are listed in the Security Center as
"AndroidOS_BadCamera.HRX" and are initially inconspicuous immediately
after installation. A little later, however, some of them download
fraudulent or pornographic content and show it as a full-frame display
when unlocking the smartphone. Others try to lure users to counterfeit
websites to get personal information.
Furthermore, the apps
upload the images of users to private servers if they want to apply a
filter to a photo using the photo editing app, for
example.
Since this function is usually not included at all, the user gets an
error message that he should download an update for the app. Also, some
free video players were among the suspicious apps.
How did the apps get onto the Play Store?
As
Trend Micro's detailed analysis shows, the apps have flown under the
radar of Google's Play Protect security system by hiding the malicious
code in encrypted packages. In addition, they had been coded twice using
the Base64
method.
Am I affected?
Along with the
malware analysis, Trend Micro has of course also published a list of
apps that you can use to check if you might be affected:
These are the malfunctioning apps
Emoji Camera
Artistic effect filter
Art Editor
beauty camera
Selfie Camera Pro
Horizon Beauty Camera
Super Camera
Art Effects for Photo
Awesome Cartoon Art
Type Filter Photo
Art Filter Photo Effcts
cartoon effect
art effect
photo editor
Wallpapers HD
Magic Art Filter Photo Editor
Fill Art Photo Editor
Art Flip Photo Editing
kind of filter
Cartoon Art Photo
Prizma Photo Effect
Cartoon Art Photo Filter
fixture
art effect
Photo Art Effect
Cartoon Photo Filter
WATCH OUT!!!
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