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Android smartphone users get frequent updates about new malware threats, and now they have got a new one to bother them. The malware called Autolycos has been found in around eight apps on the Google Play Store, out of which two of them are still reportedly active.
The security researcher named Maxime Ingrao in this report, has mentioned that all of these already have been installed 3 million times, which might sound like a small figure, but from a threat perspective, the risks are concerning.
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Apps Discovered With Autolycos Malware
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All these apps in total account for 3 million installs, which puts over 3 million smartphone users in danger. The good news is that Google has taken care of six of these apps already, and the other two have also been taken down from the Play Store.
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Autolycos Malware: How Can It Attack Your Smartphone
Ingrao has found the malware to perform stealth operations, which include executing website URLs on a remote browser and adding it in the HTTP requests. This way users find it hard to detect any intrusion and allow the malware to undertake malicious activities.
In fact, the malicious app is also able to request permission to read the SMS text on the device, which gives it access to the messages you get. There are chances that the malware ends up paying for premium services and you are not able to detect such activities.
So, it is good that Ingrao discovered these malicious apps and reported them to Google, who then responded by acting on these apps and removing them from the Play Store. Google has made some strides with app screening but episodes like this clearly suggest more work needs to be done.
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