Researchers found 85 popular apps on Google Play Store that were hiding adware inside them, reports TrendMicro. Google was informed about these infected apps and has since removed them.
According to the security researchers at Trend Micro, 85 Android apps hide advertising software called “AndroidOS_Hidenad.HRXH”.
"We found another example of adware's potential real-life impact on Google Play. Trend Micro detects this as AndroidOS_Hidenad.HRXH. Apart from displaying advertisements that are difficult to close, it employs unique techniques to evade detection through user behaviour and time-based triggers," Ecular Xu, mobile threat response engineer at Trend Micro, wrote in a blog post on Friday.
A majority of these infected apps were posing as photography as well as gaming apps and were downloaded more than 8 million times before Google intervenes.
Super Selfie Camera, Cos Camera, Pop Camera and One Stroke Line Puzzle - all of which had a million downloads each - were the most popular among the total 85 apps that were discovered by researchers as being adware-infected.
That’s not all. AndroidOS_Hidenad.HRXH is also a master in the art of concealment. Once installed, the application indeed waits 30 minutes before replacing its icon by a shortcut. This trick prevents the user from easily deleting the application. For that, you have to go through the settings of your Android smartphone.
Rest assured, Google has quickly removed the 85 infected apps from the Google Play Store. To avoid falling into the trap of hackers, TrendMicro recommends first to update your smartphone to Android 9 Pie or Android 8 Oreo if it is possible. The malware only targets devices with a version older than Android Oreo. Android 8.0 and later ask the user to confirm before allowing an application to create a shortcut, say the researchers.Android malware is hidden in 85 apps on Play Stor
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