The virus they can be present in almost any application, they are camouflaged in such a way that not even the antivirus systems detect them. There are not only those that damage the operation of our device, but there are also those that collect personal data such as phone numbers, messages, or bank accounts. Those are the worst.
Not the first time Google Play has had to withdraw many apps and games with malicious content for mobile devices, coming from complaints from many users with technical problems just when they were installing said apps. But this time, the report did not come from the community, but from the BGR portal, informing us that these viruses have been designed to collect personal data.
Things get complicated when, according to this website, the malware could have been included in 24 applications of Google Play. Quite the contrary to what you might think, most are for everyday use and with a good reputation for opinions, such as Weather Forecast or Virus Cleaner 2019, forgive the redundancy.
Various permissions were trying to access the general location, which can be located through the Wi-Fi or mobile data. Also to the most specific location, which is not necessary for almost any app in the world, although the commented ones did ask for such concessions. Other requirements such as access to mobile status or access to accounts were typical for these applications to request them to function.
Everything comes from China
Apparently, and after much pulling the thread, the reports reach a Chinese company called Shenzhen HAWK. This company works with numerous developers of apps, of which not all are completely reliable. Although the worst comes when this Shenzhen company turns out to be subsidized by TCL Corporation, a Chinese multinational that operates with technological products all over the world. This can splatter you noticeably.
Complete list of malicious applications
As you can see, we have only mentioned a few, but there are many more. Most have been withdrawn from Play Store, but between them they accumulate a total of 382 million downloads. Thanks to the variety that we have in the store, it would be advisable to replace these apps, in case you have any, for others that are not on the list, so better safe than sorry.
- Sound Recorder
- Super Cleaner
- Virus Cleaner 2019
- File Manager
- Joy Launcher Turbo Browser
- Weather Forecast
- Candy Selfie Camera
- Hello VPN, Free VPN
- Candy Gallery
- Calendar Lite
- super battery
- HiSecurity 2019
- netmaster
- Puzzle box
- Private Browser
- High VPN Pro
- World zoo
- Word Crossy!
- Soccer Pinball
- dig it
- Laser break
- Music roam
- Word crush
Sound Recorder, File Manager… with these generic names. Without putting links or name of the developer, what is the use of giving this information?
Hi Gus, we wanted to be cautious and not link to potentially dangerous apps. Perhaps we should have given some more information to identify them, we will update as much as we can to take note of your suggestion. Thanks for reading us !!!
Thank you very much for sharing this knowledge I was reviewing all the apps that I am fortunate that I did not have any of these apps but it is better to be safe, thank you very much