Bitdefender researchers have recently uncovered a large population of apps that were infected with malware. The team found tens of thousands of apps being affected by this issue thanks to its latest anomaly detection technology.
Over 60,000 Android apps suffer from hidden malware
The researchers announced a first of its kind app with anomaly detection technology. Bitdefender’s team brought new technology into Bitdefender Mobile Security. This app was used to uncover a hidden malware campaign living undetected on devices all across the globe. The malware detection was carried out for more than six months. The researchers found that the mobile malware has been found running undiscovered for a long time on Android apps.
Bitdefender also found that the malware campaign sought to bring adware to Android enabled devices for the purpose of generating revenue. But this is just one part of the issue as the people behind this can also redirect users to other types of malware as well. This includes banking Trojans to steal the Android users sensitive credentials. Notably, this news also arrives a month after we reported on an Android trojan that was dubbed “DogeRAT”, which targeted Indian users and stole their personal and financial information
The researchers have found over 60,000 applications that carry this adware and suspects that there are plenty more apps that are affected by this issue in the app stores. The new anomaly detection technology was first deployed back in October 2022 and already found such a high number of affected apps. But without the new technology, these would’ve likely gone undiscovered for longer. Looking at some of the types of apps that are mimicked by the malware:
- Game cracks
- Free VPN
- Netflix
- Fake Tutorials
- Fake security programs
- Games with unlocked features
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(Source)
