Google has banned these 6 fraudulent antivirus apps from Play Store, are they in your phone?

Tech giant Google has reportedly removed 6 apps infected with Sharkbot bank stealer malware from the Google Play Store. By the time these apps were removed from Google Play Store, these apps had been downloaded more than 15 thousand times. All these 6 apps were developed as antivirus solutions for Android smartphones. These apps were designed to select targets by using geofencing services to steal people’s login credentials on various websites and services. These apps were allegedly used to target users in Italy and the UK.

Used to pretend to be an antivirus solution

check point Research According to a blog post by Google, these 6 Android apps that appeared as genuine antivirus apps on the Google Play Store were discovered to be droppers for Sharkbot malware. Sharkbot is an Android stealer, which is used to infect devices and steal login credentials and payment details from users. Once the dropper app is installed, it can be used to download malicious payloads and infect users’ devices.

Malware prepared for users of these countries

The Sharkbot malware used by these 6 fraud antivirus apps also used a geofencing feature, which is used to target users in specific regions. According to the Check Point Research team, Sharkbot malware has been designed to identify users from China, India, Romania, Russia, Ukraine or Belarus. The malware can reportedly check when it is being run in the sandbox and stop execution and analysis. During this period, Check Point Research looked at 6 apps from 3 developer accounts Zbynek Adamcik, Adelmio Pagnotto and Bingo Like Inc. The team also talks about AppBrain’s data, which shows that the 6 apps were downloaded a total of 15 thousand times before being removed. Even after being removed from Google Play Store, some apps of these developers are still present in the third party market.

Google’s action

According to Check Point Research, 4 malicious apps were spotted on February 25 and Google was informed about it on March 3. The apps were removed from the Play Store on March 9. Two more Sharkbot dropper apps were then spotted on March 15 and March 22, both of which were reportedly removed on March 27. According to the team of Check Point Research, users should download and install apps only from Google Play Store, Apple App Store or any other trusted and verified space. In this way security is maintained.