Reefa Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 A recent study by Japanese security software company Trend Micro has uncovered nearly 900,000 fake Android apps floating around in the wild, designed to fool users into downloading them before stealing user data and aggressively serving ads.The company cataloged the top 50 free Android apps in the Google Play Store, and then searched the same store to see if fake versions of the same apps were present. For 77% of the apps in the top 50, at least one fake version existed on the store, cleverly disguised to look and act like the real apps but loaded with malicious code.Even more concerning for Android users is the sheer volume of fake apps Trend Micro uncovered in a survey conducted in April. The company found 890,482 different fake apps spread throughout many app stores and online forums; more than half of the apps were malicious, 394,263 were malware, and 59,185 contained aggressive adware.While the Google Play Store only contained a selection of these fake applications, it was still possible for people with malicious intent to infiltrate the most popular Android app store. The most common type of fake app disguised itself as antivirus software, often asking users to approve a wide set of privileges beyond what would be necessary for actual antivirus software.Trend Micro highlighted in particular an app called 'Virus Shield', which was found on the Google Play Store with a 4.7-star rating, 10,000+ downloads and a price of $3.99. The app did absolutely nothing and was a complete scam, but it still managed to reach the top new paid apps section of the Store before Google removed it.The report from Trend Micro comes just as Google announced Project Zero, designed to find vulnerabilities in third-party software. JD Sherry, VP of technology and solutions at Trend Micro, thought this was particularly ironic considering the prevalence of fake apps in the Play Store. She strongly suggested Google "take aim" at their own stores as part of the project.Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iih1 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 nowadays, beware just download apps at your trust site. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteam Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 900,000??? :unsure: this is serious. @Rok watch out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrioNeXus Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 oh my tablet! Google playstore sends virus can't trust anything :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEEL Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Hmmm!! Useing Mbam with Avast on my Andriod. Just to double-up :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexCross Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) Even I can say that i found 1 mil of fake apps on Google Play, they need to send the list, without a list their "report" is just a scam. Edited July 19, 2014 by AlexCross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefa Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Even I can say that i found 1 mil of fake apps on Google Play, they need to send the list, without a list their "report" is just a scam.And what may i ask would the so called scam achieve :think: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefa Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) Deleted.. Edited July 19, 2014 by F3dupsk1Nup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefa Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) Deleted..Sorry it said i posted to fast and done a triple..Hence why deleted.. Edited July 19, 2014 by F3dupsk1Nup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexCross Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) Even I can say that i found 1 mil of fake apps on Google Play, they need to send the list, without a list their "report" is just a scam.And what may i ask would the so called scam achieve :think: They are advertising their company of course, as they are selling Mobile protection as well. Edited July 19, 2014 by AlexCross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefa Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Well being as it's a legit source i guess your right..Here's another source..>http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9249779/Almost_a_million_fake_apps_are_targeting_your_phoneAnd if you don't believe that's fine..peace :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexCross Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) It's not that I don't belive it, but in all my University years as a student, when I had to research something, if one didn't present all his findings, with the most accurate level of details, nobody would even take him into consideration. In the committee's eyes, is an irelevant result. Who will correct you if they don't see the full documentation.Everybody can make these types of studies, but few really have a documentation. There are people who spent all their lives to gather as much documentation they can to sustain their findings, and the process last years and years until a comitee aprove their research. And those researchers get away so easly posting it on the internet, with a single purpose, advertising, and expecting people to take them seriously. Edited July 20, 2014 by AlexCross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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