Cloud security company Zscaler’s ThreatLabz team reported 52 malicious apps on the Play Store to Google, all of which have been removed. 50 of the reported apps contained Joker, one of the most prominent malware families targeting Android devices. 

The Joker malware is a big headache for Android users. The malware usually disguises itself as a messaging app and then asks users to grant additional permissions under the premise of serving as the default SMS app. Once the required permissions are granted, the malware kicks off and starts stealing sensitive data, including SMS messages, contact lists, and device information, from the user’s phone. The malware is also known to sign its victims up for premium wireless application protocol (WAP) services.

Over the last two months, ThreatLabz researchers from Zscaler have reported the following malicious apps on the Google Play Store.

The other two apps, Vanilla Camera and Unicc QR Scanner are infected with the FaceStealer and Coper malware, respectively. FaceStealer prompts users to log in to their Facebook accounts and steals their login credentials and authentication tokens. The Coper malware can intercept and send SMSs, has a keylogger built-in, can lock an infected device and even prevent app uninstalls.

52 Infected apps banned from the Play Store

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