In September Alone, Researcher Found 172 Infected Apps On Google Play Store

Desperate times call for desperate measures. But Google fails again.

Google Play Store has long been a host for a bunch of malware apps. This is because malicious developers are becoming good at hiding their apps' malicious intentions, as well as Google's filtering methods in being insufficient for curbing malware.

And here, Lukas Stefanko, a researcher at ESET, said that a total of 172 infected apps have been found on the Google Play Store, in September alone.

According to Stefanko:

On his report, he found that adware accounted for a staggering 300,600,000 installs.

Other types of malware found on Google Play Store included and not limited to: subscription spam, hidden apps, fake antiviruses, and SMS premium subscription software.

There were also 57 instances of apps with hidden ads, making up less than 5% of all installs.

While the number is jaw-dropping, this is hardly the first time Google has dealt with malware on the Play Store.

Just to name few, 205 malicious apps were found back in July 2019 alone. Previously, many games, TV apps, remote control apps, and others were found to have masked their malicious intentions.

Then there was the case of the 'The Joker' malware apps, the 'fleeceware' problem, and the case of two beauty apps with malware.

It’s worth noting that researchers' revelations merely indicate the amount of installs apps had accumulated at the time they were flagged.

Because the actual numbers of downloads and victims are very difficult to conclude, considering that apps can be hosted on numerous third-party stores and have their APK files distributed through many mediums, security concerns in the bigger picture is high.

Google Play Store is the largest app store for Android. And in the case of Stefanko's September 2019 report, fortunately, Google has purged all of those apps.

"If not all of these apps, then definitely most of them are not available on Google Play anymore,” said Stefanko.