Trend Micro finds nearly 900,000 fake Android apps

[Scorpus]

A recent study by Japanese security software company Trend Micro has uncovered nearly 900,000 fake Android apps floating around in the wild, designed to fool users into downloading them before stealing user data and aggressively serving ads.

The company cataloged the top 50 free Android apps in the Google Play Store, and then searched the same store to see if fake versions of the same apps were present. For 77% of the apps in the top 50, at least one fake version existed on the store, cleverly disguised to look and act like the real apps but loaded with malicious code.

Even more concerning for Android users is the sheer volume of fake apps Trend Micro uncovered in a survey conducted in April. The company found 890,482 different fake apps spread throughout many app stores and online forums; more than half of the apps were malicious, 394,263 were malware, and 59,185 contained aggressive adware.

While the Google Play Store only contained a selection of these fake applications, it was still possible for people with malicious intent to infiltrate the most popular Android app store. The most common type of fake app disguised itself as antivirus software, often asking users to approve a wide set of privileges beyond what would be necessary for actual antivirus software.

Trend Micro highlighted in particular an app called 'Virus Shield', which was found on the Google Play Store with a 4.7-star rating, 10,000+ downloads and a price of $3.99. The app did absolutely nothing and was a complete scam, but it still managed to reach the top new paid apps section of the Store before Google removed it.

The report from Trend Micro comes just as Google announced Project Zero, designed to find vulnerabilities in third-party software. JD Sherry, VP of technology and solutions at Trend Micro, thought this was particularly ironic considering the prevalence of fake apps in the Play Store. She strongly suggested Google "take aim" at their own stores as part of the project.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/57439-trend-micro-finds-nearly-900000-fake-android-apps.html

 

[Guest]

Aaaaaaand yet another reason why Apple is so superior.

 

[Guest]

Aaaaaaand yet another reason why Apple is so superior.

And,, another reason why Apple is making lots of money by selling overpriced phones.

 

[Rippleman]

And,, another reason why Apple is making lots of money by selling overpriced phones.

over priced is perceptual. I have many cells, a s3, s4 and iphone4. The better value for the money for me is the iphone 4. Its is better in specs? no, but for me, using android OS is a negative value thing. Do I wish that IOS was in the body of a S3 or S4? absolutely. I have used both ecosystems for years, and my opinion FOR me will not change.

 

[wastedkill]

Aaaaaaand yet another reason why Apple is so superior.

Oh am I the only one who finds it a little odd that a small company Trend Micro finds the resources to have people finding 900k apps... sounds a little BS to me...

 

[Guest]

If you are dumb enough to download the wrong app then you deserve to get malware. It is like windows, just be smart at what you download and click, and you will be fine

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

I've always been an android user, and I've always had some sort of anti-virus running (currently Kaspersky). I have NEVER run across an app that was malware in the google play store. Sure there are fake apps that have just ads, but they always have comments about how shitty they are and tell people not to download it. The 900k android apps that were fake and malicious were found in other app stores and online forums, no **** it's malicious. It's the same way for iphone users who don't download off the itunes store. This is just a way to try to convince people that iOS is superior

 

[cliffordcooley]

Oh am I the only one who finds it a little odd that a small company Trend Micro finds the resources to have people finding 900k apps... sounds a little BS to me...

They are an Anti-virus maker, it wouldn't surprise me if they had details to prove it.

 

[wastedkill]

They are an Anti-virus maker, it wouldn't surprise me if they had details to prove it.

Last I looked they only made $10mill profit..

 

[cliffordcooley]

Last I looked they only made $10mill profit..

And if the AV software does all the work, a single person can look through the results. They don't need personnel to look for results, if they have consumers doing it for them. With that said I don't know how they are setup. I just know it is possible to gather data without a large work force, if you have a large consumer base.