Beware of these malicious Android apps on Google Play store

In late 2019, Google joined forces with top security firms to form App Defense Alliance to curb malware-laced apps entering the Play store, but the latest report suggests, the company's efforts are not up to the mark.

Trend Micro's cybersecurity experts have detected several Android apps with malicious codes that perform illegal acts without the user ever knowing about it.

All the eight bad apps (listed below) detected are utility and memory optimisers, which promises to make the old phones work smoother and don't hang often.

As per the report, they used to post fake positive reviews of apps by misrepresenting the victim, flood the phone screen with full-page ads and also what's shocking is that bad apps once fooling the phone owners to grant critical permissions, they are capable of downloading more than 3000 different malware into the phone and also hijack Google and Facebook accounts as well.

Trend Micro notified Google about the nefarious activities of the bad apps and the latter has promptly removed them from the Play store.

However, most of the users understood to be of more than 470,000 in the US, India, Isreal, Japan, Taiwan and other global regions have installed the apps, so they are advised to uninstall them immediately.

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Here is the list of the bad apps detected by Trend Micro
1)Shoot Clean-Junk Cleaner, Phone Booster, CPU Cooler
2) Super Clean Lite-Booster, Clean&CPU
3)Quick Games-H5 Game Center
4)Rocket Cleaner
5)Rocker Cleaner Lite
6)Speed Clean-Phone Booster, Junk Cleaner & App Manager
7) H5 gamebox
8)LinkWorldVPN

Here's how to protect your PCs and mobile from malware
1) Whether you have an Android mobile or iOS-based iPhone or Windows-powered PCs or Mac computer, always update your devices with the latest software. All three Google, Microsoft, and Apple send regularly send firmware — especially security patches monthly or on a priority basis, whenever they detect threats. So, make sure you install the latest software
2) Another good practice is to install a premium Antivirus software, which offers 24x7 protection. They are equipped to detect threats quickly whenever you unknowingly visit a shady website
3) Never ever open emails or SMS and click URL links sent from unknown senders
4) Also, never install apps or software from unfamiliar publishers
5) Always download apps from Google Play or Apple App Store or Windows Store only. Never install from any third-party app store

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