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posted by martyb on Thursday September 24 2020, @07:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the Tik-Tok-Tip dept.

A tip from a kid helps detect iOS and Android scam apps' 2.4 million downloads:

Researchers said that a tip from a child led them to discover aggressive adware and exorbitant prices lurking in iOS and Android smartphone apps with a combined 2.4 million downloads from the App Store and Google Play.

Posing as apps for entertainment, wallpaper images, or music downloads, some of the titles served intrusive ads even when an app wasn't active. To prevent users from uninstalling them, the apps hid their icon, making it hard to identify where the ads were coming from. Other apps charged from $2 to $10 and generated revenue of more than $500,000, according to estimates from SensorTower, a smartphone-app intelligence service.

The apps came to light after a girl found a profile on TikTok that was promoting what appeared to be an abusive app and reported it to Be Safe Online, a project in the Czech Republic that educates children about online safety. Acting on the tip, researchers from security firm Avast found 11 apps, for devices running both iOS and Android, that were engaged in similar scams.

Many of the apps were promoted by one of three TikTok users, one of whom had more than 300,000 followers. A user on Instagram was also promoting the apps.

"We thank the young girl who reported the TikTok profile to us," Avast threat analyst Jakub Vávra, said in a statement. "Her awareness and responsible action is the kind of commitment we should all show to make the cyberworld a safer place."


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by fakefuck39 on Thursday September 24 2020, @07:38PM (5 children)

    by fakefuck39 (6620) on Thursday September 24 2020, @07:38PM (#1056337)

    I find it funny how the original submission has apple's iOS written correctly, then some idiot changes it to Cisco's IOS. It's fine to not know something, but taking something that's correct and being unable to copy and paste is a new level of stupid. are you a ticktock user martyb? you seem like one. do you also have velcro shoes? bunny goes in the rabbit hole retard. the bunny goes in the rabbit hole.

    • (Score: 2) by Fishscene on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:08PM (4 children)

      by Fishscene (4361) on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:08PM (#1056350)

      What are you talking about. It's "iOS" everywhere in the Summary.

      --
      I know I am not God, because every time I pray to Him, it's because I'm not perfect and thankful for what He's done.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:47PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:47PM (#1056370)

        Except the title ...

      • (Score: 2) by fakefuck39 on Saturday September 26 2020, @08:28PM (2 children)

        by fakefuck39 (6620) on Saturday September 26 2020, @08:28PM (#1057361)

        Are you a complete retard or just need an english as a second language class? you are literally agreeing with me. martybumdumb took the summary written by someone else and renamed Apple's iOS in the summary to Cisco IOS in the title. What is it you're not getting here Sherlock?

        fucking retard.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 29 2020, @10:25PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 29 2020, @10:25PM (#1058790)

          What YOU don't get, you fakefuck, is that the TITLE is not the summary. If you want respect, start with respecting yourself first, fakefuck. Next step, don't go ABSOLUTE VOLCANO over the capitalization of a single letter. Yea, I get it, it changes the product. But maybe. JUST MAYBE. The APPLE company with MILLIONS OF DOLLARS at the time of their GREAT ERROR was to not STEAL the letter I-O-S from Cisco. You want to get mad? Get mad at Apple for causing market confusion. And if you've been keeping up in the news, you'll know Apple was suing folks who had logo's not even close or related to apples products/logos. So the fact that they literally stole iOS from Cisco originally and they're BOTH tech Companies just makes your outrage completely.... FUCKING. RETARDED. Of Course people are going to mess up! Of course they're going to error on this. GET a FREAKING CLUE HOLMES. Your eat some Humble APPLE pie and realize you're just a PAWN in Apples game and you don't even know it. What level of fakefuck retard do you have to be to not realize that?

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:16PM (2 children)

    by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:16PM (#1056355) Journal

    Not sure which Be Safe Online they mean, but this

    http://www.besafeonline.org/English/safer_use_of_services_on_the_internet.htm [besafeonline.org]

    Connection not secure

    and

    https://www.besafeonline.org/English/safer_use_of_services_on_the_internet.htm [besafeonline.org]

    Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead
    Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN

    Well, some fine experts on Internets safety they are.

    --
    Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @09:47PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @09:47PM (#1056396)

      A certificate ensures the connection is secure. An expired certificate ensures they didn't bother paying some random person/company for the right to secure the connection.

      • (Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday September 24 2020, @09:54PM

        by sjames (2882) on Thursday September 24 2020, @09:54PM (#1056403) Journal

        Sure, but what does it say when your cert claims to be for susa.ooguy.com and that's nothing like your domain?

  • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:41PM

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Thursday September 24 2020, @08:41PM (#1056368)

    Posing as apps for entertainment, wallpaper images, or music downloads, some of the titles served intrusive ads even when an app wasn't active.

    and not paying Apple/Google for the privilege.

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