77 malicious apps removed from Google Play Store

Google has removed 77 malicious apps from the Google Play Store, with researchers at ThreatLabz having discovered the apps had been installed over 19 million times before their removal. One of the malware families identified is a banking trojan known as Anatsa or TeaBot, described as a highly sophisticated Android threat that targets banking and cryptocurrency credentials.

The Joker malware family accounted for the largest portion of the removed apps, and it is noted for stealthy behaviour that can steal SMS messages, contacts, device info and enroll victims in unwanted premium services. The article explains that the malware is installed by app developers who present themselves as benign programmes (such as document readers or health trackers) and then act as a dropper that connects to a remote server for additional payloads.

Google Play Protect may push a notification to users of the removed apps to remove the app, and the piece cautions that Android users generally exercise more care than iPhone users.