Security experts have urged people to take care after a cyber attack hit millions of people with Android phones.
The team at McAfee Mobile Security identified a new threat that is able to infect popular applications with a malicious software library and begin performing tasks without the smartphone owners' consent. McAfee research team has reported the issue to Google and 36 apps have now been blocked as the apps were still found to contain the malicious software library - as Mirror Online reports.
A McAfee spokesperson said: "The research team has found more than 60 applications containing this third-party malicious library, with more than 100 million downloads." They added: "We reported the discovered apps to Google, which took prompt action.
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"Google has reportedly notified the developers that their apps are in violation of Google Play policies and fixes are needed to reach compliance. Some apps were removed from Google Play while others were updated by the official developers."
Once an infected app is installed, it can be used by criminals to see Wi-Fi history, what Bluetooth devices are connected to a phone, which apps are being used and even look at nearby GPS locations. Android owners might actually be making hackers money without ever knowing as the bug is able to perform ad fraud by clicking on rogue advertisements in the background. This type of attack is also known to slow devices down with phones often becoming overworked and overloaded with data.
The issue is mainly targeted users in South Korea, but it's still a reminder to all Android users to take care before installing new apps onto their devices. Users are advised to always check the reviews, make sure you trust the developer and if you notice your phone's behaviour change after an installation it might be worth considering hitting the delete button.
It's also a bad idea to download applications from third-party providers as this software often doesn't go through the same rigorous checks made by Google's Play Store.
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