These sketchy Android apps were so obviously malicious

[Andy Meek]

• For the umpteenth time so far in 2020, a new batch of sketchy Android apps has been identified, with the apps seemingly having no legitimate purpose beyond bombarding users with ads.
• This new batch of 29 Android apps was downloaded at least 3.5 million times.
• Most of the apps in question included the word "blur" in the title, used seemingly bogus developer names, and were hit with scores of negative reviews.

White Ops Satori Threat Intelligence researchers got a little cheeky in a blog post that walks through new research identifying a slew of sketchy Android apps found to contain malware, barely asserted much of a legitimate purpose -- and yet somehow managed to amass at least 3.5 million downloads.

"We’ve got a quick mobile app safety tip or two for you: If the app you’ve just downloaded is playing hide and seek with you, the icon disappearing from your home screen, it might be bogus," the team notes, a touch humorously, in what's become a bit of an on-again, off-again story that never really ends. We're referring, of course, to the constant whack-a-mole style hunt for dodgy, malicious apps that keep sneaking into the Google Play Store, and fooling millions of users into downloading them, a saga we've chronicled often here. The White Ops Satori Threat Intelligence team, meanwhile, continues: "If the only way you can open the app is by going into your Settings menu and finding it in a long list of apps, it might be bogus. And if after you download this app, you open your phone and you begin getting bombarded by ads just appearing out of nowhere, it might be bogus."

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These sketchy Android apps were so obviously malicious originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 29 Jul 2020 at 02:49:32 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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