Android users duped into downloading adware apps 8 million times
Android users need to exercise some caution when downloading apps on the Google Play store. Cyber security firm Trend Micro recently found 85 different apps for Android phones that are actually adware apps in disguise. These sneaky camera and game apps were downloaded more than 8 million times in total. The apps, which have been removed from the Google Play store after Trend Micro shared its findings with Google, would push out screen-covering, unskippable ads over the phone's home screen, which is so obnoxious. Not only that, if you realized the app was serving up these ads and didn't want it on your phone anymore, you'd have a hard time deleting it. After being downloaded, the apps would wait 30 minutes then create a shortcut of the app on the home screen and hide the real icon, so when you tried to delete it, it would just delete the shortcut and not the app itself. Devious. For people who didn't successfully delete the apps, they would continuously push out these obnoxious ads every five minutes or so. If you do find yourself with one of these apps installed, you can remove it by going to your phone's settings, selecting Apps, and then find it in your list of apps and uninstall it from there. Reviews for the apps as screenshotted by Trend Micro revealed a lot of unhappy, one-star reviews, but the three apps shown still had average ratings above three stars, which isn't exactly glowing but it's not glaringly bad. It pays to look at written reviews. While the Google Play store does do some regulating on its own, it allows anyone to publish whatever apps they like on the store, and Google doesn't always catch mischievous apps.
Featured Video For You
A 400-year-old Japanese temple just introduced a robotic priest
- 最近发表
-
- Apple Watch bands: 5 favorites to consider as Apple Watch 10 looms
- Snapchat's finally offering more location data to advertisers
- Nate Diaz, Dustin Poirier trade social media jabs
- Premier League flexes financial muscle as fans return
- 让法治建设成效更加可感可及
- Demand for Chinese yuan grows in N. Korean private markets: report
- Dick Gregory, Comedian and Civil Right figure, dead at 84
- Virtual reality now has Emmy winners, too
- How to Backup Your Gmail Account
- Adidas reveals upcoming super fly 3D
- 随机阅读
-
- Pope says England are not 'one
- UK politicians hold a tearful vigil for a clock because they clearly have nothing better to do
- 河源举办农村创业青年培训提高班
- NK threat could change 'drastically' given Russia cooperation: US official
- 3D Game Rendering 101
- #StopHindiChauvinism has taken over Indian Twitter
- F1 stewards rule out review of Vettel's disqualification
- Jeff Bezos just revealed his plans for Blue Origin's biggest rocket yet
- Giant dual
- US warns N. Korea's space rocket launches flout UN Security Council resolutions
- I drove 250 miles on one charge in the Chevy Bolt. This is the future of GM.
- Some Facebook users are seeing a rocket icon in their app. Here's what it does
- The OLED Burn
- S. Korea imposes sanctions on 11 vessels over N. Korea's illegal ship
- Argentines celebrate 'new stage' in Messi's career with PSG
- Instagram husband's parody wellness account is comedy gold
- 13 Astronomical Clocks Connecting Time And Space
- 美丽新疆,繁荣兵团!70余家兵团企业亮相第二十届文博会
- 美丽新疆,繁荣兵团!70余家兵团企业亮相第二十届文博会
- F1 stewards rule out review of Vettel's disqualification
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-