It turned out that the Android application with a total of 20 million DL had a ``function to pad the number of accesses to a specific website''
Security company McAfee has discovered malicious code in apps distributed on Google Play. 16 applications containing malicious code have been found, and the total number of downloads has reached more than 20 million times. McAfee has already reported the issue to Google and the app has been removed from Google Play.
New Malicious Clicker found in apps installed by 20M+ users | McAfee Blog
https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/new-malicious-clicker-found-in-apps-installed-by-20m-users/
Google Play apps with >20M downloads depleted batteries and network bandwidth | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/google-play-apps-with-20m-downloads-depleted-batteries-and-network-bandwidth/
The 16 apps containing malicious code found by McAfee are as follows. Some of the discovered apps include camera apps that have been downloaded over 10 million times and task managers that have been downloaded over 5 million times, and the total number of downloads exceeds 20 million.
| app name | Number of downloads |
| High-speed camera | 10 million times or more |
| Smart Task Manager | 5 million times or more |
| Flashlight+ | 1 million times or more |
| the name of the person | 1 million times or more |
| K-Dictionary | 1 million times or more |
| BusanBus | 1 million times or more |
| Flashlight+ | 500,000 times or more |
| Quick Notes | 500,000 times or more |
| Currency Converter | 500,000 times or more |
| Joycode | 100,000 times or more |
| EzDica | 100,000 times or more |
| Instagram Profile Downloader | 100,000 times or more |
| Ez Notes | 100,000 times or more |
| business | 1000 times or more |
| information | 100 times or more |
| Flashlight+ | 1000 times or more |
The above application said that it had the functions as described in the application such as 'camera application' and 'task manager'. However, each app has a function of ``downloading external code at startup'', and after downloading the external code, ``open a specific website in the background and inflate the number of ad clicks''. It turned out that the operation was executed.
Also, when accessing the website in the background, a large amount of traffic was generated, and it was said that there was real harm to users such as reducing the remaining battery power and increasing the amount of communication.
McAfee has reported the problematic app to Google and has already removed the app from Google Play. Also, a Google spokesperson said, ``Users are protected by Google Play Protect ,'' appealing the safety of apps published on Google Play. On the other hand, overseas media Ars Technica said, ``If Google Play Protect properly blocks problematic apps, how did the apps discovered this time get downloaded more than 20 million times in total?'' , expresses concern about Google's user protection measures.
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