Here we go again – more than two dozen Android apps caught stealing your data

BGR ^ | 07/07/2020 | Andy Meek

[BenLurkin]

Evina, a French cybersecurity firm, disclosed this news in recent weeks, with its report that a single threat group developed the batch of apps that were made to look like everything from wallpaper and flashlight apps to mobile games. However, all the apps had the same goal, as Evina explains in its report of the fraud.

“When an application is launched on your phone, the malware queries the application name,” the company explains. “If it is a Facebook application, the malware will launch a browser that loads Facebook at the same time. The browser is displayed in the foreground which makes you think that the application launched it. When you enter your credentials into this browser, the malware executes javascript to retrieve them. The malware then sends your account information to a server.”

One thing to note is that when Google pulled the apps from the Play Store after Evina shared its findings, the search giant also disables the apps on the user’s end — in addition to notifying the user via the Play Store’s Play Protect service.

According to Evina, it informed Google about the apps in late May. Google investigated and took action in June, though some of the apps have been live in the Play Store since at least 2019. Cumulatively, according to the French firm, these apps garnered more than 2 million downloads

[ridesthemiles]

My phone sits on the living room table & looks like your Grandma’s phone. NOT changing to a cell phone—EVER.