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The Belgian Police warned about the return of the 'Joker' virus, which attacks Android devices and hides itself in various applications on the Google Play Store. This malware is capable of subscribing the user to payment services without their authorization and emptying their bank accounts without them noticing.
"This malicious program has been detected in eight Play Store applications that Google has suppressed," said the Belgian authorities in a statement published this Friday on their website.
The 'Joker' malware became famous in 2017 for infecting and robbing its victims by hiding in different applications. Since then, the Google Play Store defense systems have removed around 1,700 apps with the 'Joker' malware before they were downloaded by users.
[...] Researchers from the cybersecurity company Quick Heal Security Lab, cited in the statement, explain that this virus can enter text messages, contacts and other information on the infected smartphone.
[...] On this occasion, the harmful applications that the Google Play Store eliminated after detecting that they contained the 'Joker' virus are:
- Auxiliary Message
- Element Scanner
- Fast Magic SMS
- Free CamScanner
- Go Messages
- Super Message
- Super SMS
- Travel Wallpapers
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 25 2021, @12:29AM
Isn't that what app permissions are (supposed to be) for?
If Google made that mechanism not work as it should, it is reason enough for any other "decisions" of theirs be presumed malicious unless proven otherwise. Their numerous actions that HAD been malicious, are simply a confirmation for the wisdom of that approach.
When a proven bad actor, known to see you as but a number in a ledger, suddenly and noisily "cares about you", rest assured that you are going to be shafted.