Being scammed on Android is so easy. You don’t even need to download apps, some websites redirect you to your SMS Folder, sending Premium SMS which costs you 5 Dollars a week per number to 10 different Numbers – imagine the damage on someone not knowing what to do in such a situation. Android, in general, is extremely susceptible to viruses, as being able to run any apk file directly without some sort of license means someone could create malware disguised as an apk file, and distribute it across the internet. There is a dire requirement of a period of assessment while it’s reviewed for every app until it’s green flagged for users to download, Google is so filthy rich they could easily hire 1000 reviewers just for this.
It sucks because the mobile brands’ firmware gets worse with time or just tucked away, while google just plasters its apps over like 3/4 of your storage by default. According to Trend security and other antivirus groups that monitor outbreaks the Joker malware has returned, and this time it was found in a variety of bitcoin, eth, and other crypto mining applications. The Joker malware has been affecting apps for the last four or five years. Last year too, Google has removed more than thirty apps from its app store. There are no official instructions, and there are 23 known apps that have been found so far, but the media (who is often wrong) says that you simply delete the infected app, however that is superficial advice since there is no way to know with absolute certainty which apps are infected.
Again this year the malware returned and affected half a million people. Pradeo has recently detected the Joker malware in an app and again the malware came into the limelight. Color Message is an android app that seems to get affected by malware. Although, it is being speculated that developers of the app had intentionally put the bug in the app. As per the current data, the Colour Message app has been downloaded more than five lakhs on the play store. Despite google having to remove the messaging app, but still it has affected a hundred thousand people. All of the apps that are infected with the Joker virus were on the Google Play Store but Google as usual has not taken responsibility for cleaning up this (or any other) mess that came from the Google Play Store.
Joker malware has affected millions of people from around the world via an SMS app. We don’t know why in 2021 premium SMS is still a thing. Who would willingly want to get charged small amounts of money to receive SMS? We are pretty sure there’s a better source to get that information/service. Not to mention that most of those SMS services if not all are just SCAM. Governments should just ban premium SMS services. Some of the malware was easily be identified by the google play store but this joker malware is very dangerous to compare to other malware because when hackers bind this malware to any application in a play store. The google play store was not detecting the malware so it was so dangerous.
A previous blog post by Google’s Android security and privacy team describes Joker as one of the most persistent threats the Play Store faces, with the attackers behind it having “at some point used just about every cloaking and obfuscation technique under the sun in an attempt to go undetected”. They also submit a clean app then after a few weeks add malicious functionalities in an update which is also using the obfuscation technique to go undetected. So Google can only really play catch up as it is not just a case of running a scan for malware because of the level of sophistication the criminal developers are using. There are plenty of SMS apps on the app store as well, but they need approval from Apple before being listed. There’s also no need to download them when the stock one works just fine (isn’t the same true for the stock SMS for android devices though?).
So, we just have to be careful about the stuff we download from the Appstore. Even android anti-virus isn’t safe on the app store. You shouldn’t download such anti-virus apps from the play store there are lots of bad guys who developed fake anti-virus apps where they occupied “joker” malware to infect the Android phone. If your luck is bad maybe they can hack your phone also. The play store is a landmine field of bootlegs of apps that were bad, to begin with, and you can never know which one is going to steal your entire house. Sometimes an unwanted ad can also cause serious malfunction like data and privacy breaches. The worst aspect is that all those ads were right in front of users without some level of mass awareness of their real intention. Imagine a tech scam happening right now that is so good that we will only be able to uncover it years from now.
As far as android devices go, the Pixel phones seem to be the most secure, since they can get their security update directly from Google themselves. The best form of security, though, is user judgment. For the same reason, you don’t download and run just anything you find on the web on windows, the same applies to Android devices. It is really hard to find why developers make apps like this, when they could probably put a ton of effort into making a good app, then sell it on the app store for even more than they’re siphoning (maybe a dollar or two dollars for the app) but potentially get millions of users to buy it and they’d be set for life. As per the concern of getting affected by the Joker Malware. You can follow some steps to stay safe from the virus. Never and ever download unwanted apps on your device, as we have discussed above that apps even on the play store are not safe.
So, download only trusted apps and those apps which are conventional in use. Stay away from third-party apps and cracked apps. Every application is safe if you know how to use it. Even apk files you download from telegram. All scripts are written in python mostly. All you need is a good script editor and check the source code after installing. Delete those unnecessary kinds of stuff if needed. Then you are good to go. Only go to websites you trust and only download apps you trust. Read the ratings before you download an app and see if the people are talking about anything suspicious. Free avast android antivirus detect malware but spyware nowadays comes with stealth mode feature. So for that, you will need a premium version of antivirus to detect such spyware. Moreover, if you don’t want to use any antivirus and you think that your android phone has spyware or malware then a hard reset can help you to get rid of all unwanted and hidden spyware or malware.
People might hate Google because it’s google thus try to avoid anything Google-related if they can. However, subtle siphoning is more profitable in the long run because, when is one more likely to get suspicious, some sudden big transaction you can’t imagine where from or a few cents that happen in the background here and there. We just need to know about the apps we download from the Appstore, a specific set of apps we always download. Because we know that we can trust them to not have malware on them. At least, we hope! That said, there are ways to ensure you are not downloading malicious apps that are going to hack your device. If you are running Adware/Malware/Virus protection on your PC, speak with your provider to see what type of Android/iOS protection they can provide.
This states that the app store of Android smartphones (Google Play store) is a hub of malicious apps and viruses and they are not taking any strict action against the restriction of such kinds of apps. You need to worry if you have any of those infected/malware applications on your device. Else nothing to be worried about. While, If you have any, then uninstall them immediately and backup your important files/data on your device, and format it. Also, you can check on your credit card statements for any unknown transactions.
