Pornographic malware discovered on Android apps for kids: Report
Google has reportedly eliminated over sixty Android applications from its Play Store, consisting of pornographic malware. Majority of these applications were gaming platforms meant for children. The malware was such that it showcased pornographic advertisements to the smartphone owners.
According to a report published by Fox 8, Check Point’s team of researchers are being accredited for discovering the malware. The malware is called, ‘AdultSwine,’ and has been reportedly existing in applications that have been downloaded over 3 million times and more.
The list of applications that were affected by the AdultSwine app includes McQueen Car Racing Game, Subway Banana Run Surf, and Raw Puppy Run Subway Surf. “An individual or group of hackers created these malicious games under fake publisher names to distribute their malware and make money off the scheme, Check Point researcher Daniel Padon told CNN Tech,” reports Fox 8.
After the individual downloads the application, the malware starts to display pornographic adds as pop-ups, which ultimately lead the users to a new web page wherein they are prompted to install fake security applications and present them with worthless premium services. Search giant Google eliminated these malicious applications hours after being reported for the same.
“We’ve removed the apps from Play, disabled the developers’ accounts, and will continue to show strong warnings to anyone that has installed them,” a Google spokesperson told CNN Tech. “We appreciate Check Point’s work to help keep users safe.” One of the users in the comment thread on the Store even stated that his son was exposed to pornographic content on one of these applications. In response, Google encouraged users to utilize the ‘Designed for Families’ program to remain protected from these applications. Under this program, developers at Google manually review apps that are designed for children to gauge whether they are appropriate for them.
