Dozens more shape-shifting malicious Android apps discovered TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Dozens more shape-shifting malicious Android apps discovered By Sead Fadilpašić published 18 August 2022 Many malicious Android apps lurk in the Play Store (Image credit: Elchinator from Pixabay ) Audio player loading… Three dozen malicious Android apps have been discovered on the Google Play Store, showing once again that downloading from a proven source is not a sufficient security practice. Cybersecurity researchers from Bitdefender discovered a total of 35 Android apps on the Google Play Store that serve dangerous ads to their victims, and try their hardest to hide and prevent the users from removing them. The malware, ranging from GPS apps, to photo editors, to charging screensavers, have been downloaded more than two million times, the researchers said, "if we consider the available public data". That means the total number is probably even greater. Hiding from the users Simply serving ads to the endpoints isn't malicious in itself, the researchers explained, but the problem lies in the fact that these apps do it through their own framework, meaning nothing's stopping them from serving more dangerous malware, too, or even ransomware. What's more, if the ads are served aggressively (which they are), they hurt the user experience, as well. Another aspect that makes these apps malicious is that they hide from the victims in order to avoid being deleted. As soon as the victim downloads one of the malicious apps, it will change its entire appearance (both icon and name) into something else, often into apps users would be afraid to delete (System Settings, or something along those lines). Read more> This Android malware is so dangerous, even Google is worried (opens in new tab) > Millions of Android devices infected with wallet-draining malware (opens in new tab) > These are the best Android apps right now (opens in new tab) Even though Google has improved its Play Store vetting system throughout the years, malicious developers still manage to squeeze quite a few apps past the bouncers, and into one of the world's greatest app repositories. That's why the researchers are suggesting that even when users want to download an app from the official play store, they should double-check that it has enough downloads, and enough positive reviews and comments. Threat actors can use bots to fake reviews and ratings, but they can't do it en masse. Furthermore, having a mobile antivirus (opens in new tab) wouldn't hurt.These are the best identity theft (opens in new tab) solutions right now Sead Fadilpašić Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he's written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He's also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications. See more Computing news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1You may not have to sell a body part to afford the Nvidia RTX 4090 after all2Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month3Google's AI editing tricks are making Photoshop irrelevant for most people4One of the world's most popular programming languages is coming to Linux5The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me1We finally know what 'Wi-Fi' stands for - and it's not what you think2Best laptops for designers and coders 3The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me4Miofive 4K Dash Cam review5Logitech's latest webcam and headset want to relieve your work day frustrations Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)