{"id":868,"date":"2020-09-28T16:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwvconsultants.com\/blog\/?p=868"},"modified":"2020-09-28T16:11:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T20:11:18","slug":"joker-malware-infiltrates-google-play-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwvconsultants.com\/blog\/joker-malware-infiltrates-google-play-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Joker Malware Infiltrates Google Play Store"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zscaler researchers discover malware employing WAP billing fraud. Google removes 17 apps from its Android Play Store as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 24, Zscaler announced that its researchers discovered yet another instance of the Joker (aka Bread) malware inside Google\u2019s Android Play Store. Joker has been a plague on Google\u2019s Play Store, the company calling it one of the most persistent threats it has dealt with since 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viral Gandhi, a Zscaler researcher, writes<\/a>, \u201cJoker is one of the most prominent malware families that continually targets Android devices. Despite awareness of this particular malware, it keeps finding its way into Google\u2019s official application market by employing changes in its code, execution methods, or payload-retrieving techniques. This spyware is designed to steal SMS messages, contact lists, and device information along with silently signing up the victim for premium wireless application protocol (WAP) services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 17 apps have since been removed from the Play Store, and Google, following its own procedures, also used the Play Protect service to disable the apps on infected devices. It is still up to the user to remove the app from their device. Thankfully, the apps were just uploaded to the Play Store in September 2020 and had just 120,000 downloads, so the infected apps had not gained a foothold on the market. The list of apps from Zscalers announcement is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n