Alert! Over 60 DANGEROUS apps found on Google Play Store by McAfee

Google Play Store users need to be careful while downloading apps on their gadgets. McAfee's Mobile Research Team has discovered over 60 apps that contain a malicious third-party library named Goldoson. These apps have amassed more than 100 million downloads on ONE store and Google Play Store in South Korea. The report by McAfee has mentioned that If a malicious app is installed by you, it can be exploited by criminals to access your phone's Wi-Fi history, connected Bluetooth devices, active apps, and even view nearby GPS locations. This implies that a criminal could potentially track an individual's movements and know their exact whereabouts.

Additionally, the library can engage in ad fraud by secretly clicking on advertisements in the background without the user's knowledge or consent. McAfee has informed Google about these dangerous apps, and it has allegedly notified the developers that their apps breach Google Play policies and corrective measures must be taken. In fact, some apps were removed from Google Play Store, while others were updated by the developers themselves.

How do these apps pose danger to users?

The Goldoson library registers the device and retrieves remote configurations. The library name and remote server domain are different for each app, and they are obfuscated. The name, Goldoson was derived from the initial domain name discovered.

However, there is good news for Indian users. Although the problem primarily affected users in South Korea, there have been no reports of Indian users being impacted by the bug. Nonetheless, it serves as a reminder to all Android users to exercise caution when installing new apps on their devices.

What Google PlayStore users should do

Even though the malicious library was not created by the developers but by someone else, the risk to users who install these apps persists. Hence, users are advised to update their apps to the most recent version to eliminate the identified threat from their devices.

You should make sure your phone has the latest software update to keep unknown malicious files and downloads away.