Android Security: Google Play Houses More Than 300 Ad-Clicking Malicious Apps
Recently, more than 300 malicious apps were discovered being utilized by hackers to generate money through the virtual clicking of advertisements.
Like the common adware, these apps have the ability to easily make thousands of attempts to click or open advertisements without the user's knowledge. Because of that, it is likely the advertisers are paying developers a great amount of money out of bogus ad views.
The report originated from research done by eZanga's fraud protection division, according to Android Authority. eZanga has a program called Anura that was specifically designed to observe fraudulent ad-clicking activities.
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Up to June 16, eZanga reportedly discovered 317 ad-clicking malware disguised as mobile apps on Google Play. It was also learned that about 4.1 million to 14.2 million Android users have downloaded and installed these apps.
If not neutralized, this scheme could hurt the advertisement industry. For example, eZanga observed two identified ad-clicking wallpaper apps named "Lovely Rose" and "Oriental Beauty." In just one day, these apps were able to gather 169 successful ad clicks out of 3,061 attempts — even when the apps and the test phone were in sleep mode.
Speculatively, if each ad click costs $0.015 per click, advertisers are tricked to paying developers $62,000 to $214,000 per day based on the fake ad views.
The same report identified the "Clone Camera" app as one of the most downloaded and identified adware apps. However, upon checking Google Play, one will find that there are several different apps with the same name.
Meanwhile, the report also identified developers Attunable, Classywall, Firamo, FlameryHot, NeonApp, Goopolo, Litvinka Co, Livelypapir, Tuneatpa Personalization, Waterflo, X Soft, and Zheka as having allegedly released apps using the said ad-clicking scheme.
Android Authority also mentioned that eZanga had already notified Google about the large problem with ad-clicking malicious apps.
Just a few weeks ago, IT security company Check Point also discovered a similar scheme practiced by a Korean developer named Kiniwini (also referred to as ENISTUDIO Corp.) through its gaming apps franchise titled "Judy."
