Trusted 
Google Play Store applications are often targeted by malicious actors to enter the devices of unsuspecting users. Joker virus is one such malware that has been used in the past to escape Play Store security checks.
Belgian Police released the list of applications that were sneaked in the Joker virus. Some of these apps even mimic other popular apps in order to deceive the user.
The Belgian authorities have spotted eight Play Store applications that are infected by the Joker virus. A lot of the applications in the list have very generic names which make them harder to spot and few users can even mistake them for their popular and legitimate counterparts. The list was first highlighted by Quick Heal cybersecurity agency. The applications have been deleted by Google from the Play Store but many users may still have them stored on their devices. The applications should be deleted from smartphones as soon as possible.
These are the eight applications that were spotted with the malware:
- Auxiliary Message
- Element Scanner
- Fast Magic SMS
- Free CamScanner
- Go Messages
- Super Message
- Super SMS
- Travel Wallpapers
The Joker virus is known to steal information from the victim’s device via SMS messages, contact list, and device info. Since it is a Trojan, it silently interacts with advertisement websites and also subscribes the victim to premium services without their knowledge. These subscription services start extracting money from the victim’s bank account.
According to the Quick Heal report, at launch, these applications ask for notification access, which is used to get notification data. The application then goes on to take SMS data from notification, and asks for Contacts access. When the access is provided, the app makes and manages phone call permission. After that, it continues to work without showing any visible malicious activity to the user.
TOP GADGETS
See All
