Alert! Some Samsung Galaxy Play Store apps may expose you to malware: Report

Some Samsung Galaxy Play Store apps infected? Report says these apps can lead to installation of malware on users' phones.

Samsung Galaxy Play Store apps should be downloaded with some care. (Amritanshu / HT Tech)

Google Play Store has often banned many apps that carry hidden malware on its platform. Recently, the app store has deleted a few apps that were suspected to be the dreaded Joker malware. Now, Samsung's Galaxy Store too has reported duplicate infected apps that have been found listed on the store for downloading purposes. Since most of the Samsung phone users tend to download apps directly from the Galaxy Store, they might land into trouble due to these duplicate apps. While Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Play Store have their own security system in place, there are instances when certain apps do sneak through.

Max Weinbach of Android Police raised the problem and identified the apps. This is the Showbox movie piracy apps, which can transfer malware to smartphones of innocent users without their knowledge as it is hidden. He tweeted that a few apps triggered the Google Play Protect warning when initiating an installation. Virustotal detected over 12 low-grade warnings from different security vendors due to the presence of riskware and adware.

Max wrote, “Samsung is hosting literal malware on the Galaxy Store. Google's anti-virus protection software, built into Play Services, stops the install. I've found at least 5 of these apps in a row on the Galaxy Store.”

https://twitter.com/MaxWinebach/status/1475333462370529281

After downloading, these apps request more than a required set of permissions like contacts and call logs. Android Police said the app itself isn't carrying the malware, but it can install the same on users' phones.

Users must be aware that any Samsung device infected with the malware is vulnerable to other trojan and malware hack attacks also. Users must note that these apps are clones of the popular Showbox app which is known for its piracy and copyright content for movies and TV shows. Though the installation number is not confirmed, the app has hundreds of reviews which indicates a large number of installations.

Meanwhile,neither Samsung nor the developers of these apps have responded on this issue. These apps are present on Samsung Galaxy app store and not on Google Play Store, the report says.