Active adware was found on 85 photography and gaming apps on the Google Play Store that were collectively downloaded over 8 million times and have now been removed.
Adware has become an increasing nuisance, which is propelled by the poor app standards of the Play Store. According to researchers at Trend Micro, “Apart from displaying advertisements that are difficult to close, it employs unique techniques to evade detection through user behaviour and time-based triggers.”
In July, researchers found 1000+ apps with millions of downloads which were snooping in on user data. Earlier this month, Android rolled out a security patch which fixed severe vulnerabilities on the devices powered by Qualcomm chipsets that allowed a third-party to attack the device over a WiFi network.
Also read: What is Adware? 5 ways it harms your device and 8 ways to tackle it
List of the 85 apps compromised by Adware
Google has taken down all of the following 85 apps after the researchers disclosed their findings.
- Super selfie (1 million+ downloads) |
- Cos Camera (1 million+)
- Pop Camera (1 million+)
- One Stroke Line Puzzle (500,000)
- Background Eraser (500,000)
- Meet Camera (500,000)
- Pixel Blur (500,000)
- Hi Music Play (500,000)
- One Line Stroke (500,000)
- Beautiful House (100,000)
- Blur Photo Editor (100,000)
- Cos Camera (100,000)
- Stylish Camera (100,000)
- Face Camera (100,000)
- Beauty Camera (100,000)
- Magic Camera (100,000)
- Super Selfiecam (100,000)
- Beauty Camera (100,000)
- Magic Camera (100,000)
- One Stroke Line Puzzle (100,000)
- Own Camera (100,000)
- Seals Camera (100,000)
- Selfie Artifact (100,000)
- Selfie Camera (100,000)
- Toy Smash (100,000)
- Color House (100,000)
- Fast Blur (50,000)
- Date Stamp Camera (50,000)
- Find Differences (50,000)
- Charm Camera (50,000)
- Chery Camera (50,000)
- One Line Stroke (50,000)
- PIC Eraser (50,000)
- Sweet Selfie (50,000)
- Toy Story (50,000)
- Blur Camera (10,000)
- Sweet Camera (10,000)
- Color House (10,000)
- Meet Camera (10,000)
- Photo Background Eraser (10,000)
- Selfie Dog (10,000)
- Smart File Manager (10,000)
- Selfie Camera (10,000)
- Date Stamp Camera (10,000)
- Easy Camera Pro (5,000)
- Connect Together (5,000)
- Toy Blast (5,000)
- HD Video Player (5,000)
- Selfie Dog (1,000)
- Seals Camera (1,000)
- Toy Smash (1,000)
- Draw 1 Line (1,000)
- Meet Camera (1,000)
- Meet Camera (1,000)
- Fancy Camera (1,000)
- Meet Camera (1,000)
- Magic Camera (1,000)
- Magic Camera (1,000)
- Panda Camera (1,000)
- One Stroke Drawing (1,000)
- One Touch Draw (1,000)
- Background Changer (1,000)
- Background Eraser (1,000)
- QR Code Scanner (1,000)
- Quick Blur (1,000)
- Blur Master (1,000)
- Checkers Box (500)
- Face Camera (500)
- Fashion Camera (500)
- Color House (500)
- Perfect Camera (500)
- Toy Blast (500)
- Easy Camera (100)
- Mirth Cam (100)
- Cherry Camera (100)
- Find DIfferences (100)
- 361 Camera (100)
- One-line draw puzzle stroke (50)
- Super Camera (10)
- Stylish Camera (10)
- Connect Smash (10)
- Jelly Crush (10)
- Seals Camera (10)
- Super Camera (10)
- Video Cut (10)
If you still have one of these apps, it’s recommended that you immediately uninstall them from your device. You can learn more about how to detect the source of pop-up ads on your device in this article.
Also read: Here is how Android manufacturers are threatening the security of your phone
