A large batch of malware is doing the rounds called a porn clicker trojan, which hides in your phone and clicks on porn sites in the background, upping their page views and draining your data.
ESET found hundreds of porn clicker apps in the Google Play store over the course of seven months, mostly impersonating popular games Grand Theft Auto and Subway Surfers.
The apps look like legit ones to anyone in a rush and not willing to dig a tiny bit and, once you download them, they hide around in the background, getting their appy hands dirty.
Some are loaded with the ability to lay dormant if any anti-virus is noted, with the 343 discovered apps downloaded, on average, 3,600 times each.
Porn clicker trojan apps impersonate legitimate, popular apps
“Considering how widespread porn clickers are on the Google Play Store, it is clear that neither the Google Bouncer filter, nor Google’s human review process, can keep malicious apps completely out of the Store,” says ESET.
Check the reviews and ratings
There is one decent defence tool, though, notes Eset, which is the review system. I don’t think I’ve ever downloaded an app without looking through reviews and comments to get a sense of what’s going on, so I’d like to think I’ve never been hit by this type of attack.
But, considering the number of people who have bought into the scam, not everybody takes a moment to think before they click ‘get’.
The apps that have been discovered are no longer in the Play Store.
It’s quite a clever piece of malware, actually, busying itself online, upping page clicks on porn sites and doing advertisers out of a bit of money. From a consumer side of things, however, this could, potentially, damage your data allowance limit.
ESET advises Android users to keep an eye on app reviews, with the majority of porn clicker malicious apps roundly slammed by unhappy downloaders.
From a more structural point of view, though, it seems all of Google’s well-intended security measures just aren’t strong enough.
“We advise all users to have up-to-date security solutions installed on their Android mobile devices,” says ESET. “A good security product should stop this threat from installing on the device.”
Main image of shocked smartphone users via Shutterstock
