A type of malware which has been dubbed as “AdultSwine” has been discovered embedded in over 60 game apps in Google Play before it was discovered and the games taken off the official Android app marketplace. According to Google Play’s data, these game apps have been downloaded between 3 million to 7 million times before they were deleted.
The AdultSwine malware code is embedded in the seemingly legit game app, and once installed attempts to earn money for hackers in three ways. First, the malware may pop up pornographic ads on your phone at any point in time – which may be awkward at best and may lead to more infections when you tap on these ads.
Secondly, the malware attempts to scare you into installing fake security apps, which again may lead to more security problems for your phone because you don’t know where these apps come from and may have other malware embedded in them. Third, the malware will attempt to seduce users into subscribing to premium services.
The apps that contain this code have been removed from Google Play, but let this serve as a warning for users. Some of the apps that contain this malware are even seemingly designed for children. So if your children’s Android devices suddenly starts spitting out inappropriate ads, chances are there might be malware installed on that specific device.
SOURCE: CheckPoint
