Apple takes down 17 apps created by Indian firm for secretly clicking on ads

Mobile security company Wandera had released a list of 17 apps for iOS which are infected with clickware meant to increase advertising revenue. These apps were published by Gujarat-based AppAspect Technologies Pvt. Ltd and the iPhone maker has removed all 17 apps as they are no longer available for download on the App Store.

"Clicker Trojan is a well-understood class of malware that performs ad-fraud by making frequent connections to ad networks or websites in order to artificially inflate visitor counts or to generate revenue on a pay-per-click basis," said Wandera.

These infected apps would receive commands from the control server to load advertisements, open website in the background and change device settings to subscribe users to expensive subscriptions services, without users consent, the Cult of Mac reported recently.

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The 17 apps an iPhone user needs to uninstall immediately are RTO Vehicle Information, EMI Calculator and Loan Planner, File Manager - Documents, Smart GPS Speedometer, CrickOne - Live Cricket Scores, Daily Fitness - Yoga Poses, FM Radio - Internet Radio, My Train Info - IRCTC and PNR, Around Me Place Finder, Easy Contacts Backup Manager, Ramadan Times 2019, Restaurant Finder - Find Food, BMI Calculator - BMR Calc, Dual Accounts, Video Editor - Mute Video, Islamic World - Qibla and Smart Video Compressor.