Over 60 million Android users need to delete these 11 apps immediately-Technology

A list of 11 malicious Android apps has just been published that users are advised to remove immediately.

Security analysts at AppCensus have detected massive data collection from a range of apps Android, with the number of possible victims being very large, up to 60 million and growing. Essentially, this means that “at least” 60 million users have installed the newly discovered malicious apps.

More than 60 million users downloaded 11 malicious apps that AppCensus detected.

All of those 11 apps are freely available on Google Play, so many users who have downloaded them without even knowing it are facing a high security risk. Google says it has removed the aforementioned apps from its app store, but for those who have installed it, they need to remove them immediately.

The data these apps steal includes a wide variety of sensitive information, from email addresses to phone numbers, passwords, and perhaps most importantly, precise GPS location history.

This malware was first discovered by Serge Egelman and Joel Reardon, the co-founders of AppCensus. Egelman is also a researcher at the International Institute of Computer Science and the University of California, Berkeley. These researchers have described the malware as “the most privacy-invasive SDK they have seen in the six years they have tested mobile apps.”

More importantly, the report says that the latest malware contains a software development kit (SDK) that is believed to be sending data to a defense contractor affiliated with the US intelligence community.

When the SDK works, it collects a large amount of data, including exact location, phone number, email, and nearby devices. This SDK also has full access to the system clipboard, including any passwords stored there, and can scan parts of the file system, including where WhatsApp downloads and stores it. file on it.

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Because of the way this works, researchers believe that US intelligence is behind this sophisticated system because WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, and intelligence agencies are always looking for ways to get any detailed information. any details they can about communicating on the platform.

The list of 11 apps that AppCensus detects includes:

– Speed ​​Camera Radar

– Al-Moazin Lite

– Wi-Fi Mouse (remote PC control)

– QR & Barcode Scanner (developed by AppSource Hub)

– Qibla Compass – Ramadan 2022

– Simple weather & clock widget (developed by Difer)

– Handcent Next SMS-Text with MMS

– Smart Kit 360

– Al Quran MP3 – 50 Reciters & Translation Audio

– Full Quran MP3 – 50+ Languages ​​& Translation Audio

– Audiosdroid Audio Studio DAW