Delete Now! This Android Application Is Infiltrated By Malware That Can Harm Your Bank Account

Cybersecurity firm CloudSEK found hundreds of malicious apps that had been compromised by malware. The application is said to harm users' personal data, spy on smartphone activity, retrieve sensitive information, such as passwords or bank account information. With stolen bank account information, the most dangerous risk is the loss of the victim's balance.

The CloudSEK research team claims to have found 101 applications infiltrated by malware called SpinOK Android. However, they found that the number of other applications also infected with the malware. There are at least 193 other applications, in addition to the previous 101 applications.

The hundreds of applications are predicted to have been downloaded 400 million times. Despite this, many apps are no longer active on the Play Store app store. Researchers say that the remaining 43 applications are still active on the Google Play Store.

In line with CloudSEK, a cybersecurity company, Dr. The Web also detects the same malicious software. In fact, this software has the ability to spy on user devices (spyware). Both CloudSEK and Dr. Web said the malware was disguised as an advertising Software Development Kit (SDK) and had infiltrated various Android apps on the Google Play Store.

"On the surface, the SpinOK module is designed to entice the user to stay in the app with the help of mini games, task systems, rewarded games or rewarded images," explains the researcher from Dr. Web. The SpinOK module contained in the application will work in the background of the application.

The system will check and confirm device sensor data, whether the system is running Android application detectors that are considered dangerous or not.

If the sensor system has been confirmed to be inactive, the application will connect with the remote server to download the URL list. The list of URLs is useful for displaying mini games or advertisements in the application to hold the user longer in the application.

So, if an application infected with malware displays an advertising SDK, Dr Web says that the SDK will go directly to the file, search for certain files, upload files from the device, and retrieve data from the clipboard.

Data theft practices like this are considered to be very concerning because they can expose private and sensitive images, videos, and even documents.

This malware can also steal passwords and account card data, so it has the potential to suck up a user's account balance. Users who rely on banking applications may be vulnerable to this risk. CloudSEK and Dr Web project that there are 30 million users affected by this malware.

The high number of downloaders of hundreds of applications infected with malware indicates that many Android users are not aware that they have become targets of cybercriminals.

Android application infiltrated by malware is not the only time this has happened. Previously, Google had handled a similar problem, namely removing applications that were considered to violate user security and privacy guidelines. However, this effort is often considered futile because criminals (scammers) often have a solution to overcome this quickly. When one application is deleted, scammers will bring up several similar applications on the Play Store again.

A Google spokesman said that his party automatically scans (scanning) every application that is considered to have the potential to spread malware and spam-filled accounts before being displayed on the Play Store. "Applications are reviewed based on the Content Policies and Developer Distribution Agreement guidelines, we also rely on the developer and user community to detect which applications need to be reviewed," explained Google, as quoted from The Sun, Friday (9/6/2023).

"If we find that there are applications that violate the guidelines, we will take action to follow up," added a Google spokesperson.

The list of applications detected to have been infiltrated by the SpinOK Android malware is as follows.

If there are applications that may be installed on your cellphone, it's a good idea to uninstall them immediately: