When new malware and viruses come to the market every day, Joker Malware has been spotted to have infected more than 400,000 Android Devices. Also, here is a list of 24 Apps that you need to uninstall right now.
So far, Joker Malware has affected more than 37 countries globally and India is definitely one of them. Check if your device is not one of them.
What is Joker Malware?
Joker Malware is actually a spyware that silently sits on your Android phones while using a JAVA code. This spyware not only steals your data but also your money.
Firstly, Joker Spyware steals all your data by controlling the SMS, contact lists and device information. Once it gets your payment details, it has all your bank information.
Secondly, it will automatically subscribe to some premium services without your information. It automates the payment service so that your amount will deduct on a weekly or monthly basis.
Since it has control over your SMS and contact list, it will always come to know about the OTPs. So, the message will be extracted from the SMS and it will be used for the confirmation of subscription service.
Aleksejs Kuprins, a security researcher at independent cybersecurity threat intelligence specialists CSIS Security Group, has also revealed that a new Android Trojan has been observed within the Google Play store for a couple of weeks now. “So far, we have detected it in 24 apps with over 472,000 installs in total,” Kuprins said.
Soure: Forbes
List of Apps affected by Joker Malware
Picture Credits: Instagram/@priteshpawardigital
- Advocate Wallpaper
- Age Face
- Altar Message
- Antivirus Security – Security Scan
- Beach Camera
- Board picture editing
- Certain Wallpaper
- Climate SMS
- Collate Face Scanner
- Cute Camera
- Dazzle Wallpaper
- Declare Message
- Display Camera
- Great VPN
- Humour Camera
- Ignite Clean
- Leaf Face Scanner
- Mini Camera
- Print Plant scan
- Rapid Face Scanner
- Reward Clean
- Ruddy SMS
- Soby Camera
- Spark Wallpaper
There might be some more apps but only these apps are detected for now.
After knowing about these apps, Google has removed them from its Play Store. However, over 472,000 users have already downloaded this on their smartphones. If you have any of these apps, then kindly uninstall them.
List of Countries affected by Joker Spyware
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- China
- Cyprus
- Egypt
- France
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kuwait
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- UAE
- UK
- USA
Are Apple iOS devices affected by Joker Spyware?
No, only Android phones are on the risk because Google does not perform quality control on Play Store apps the same way that Apple does for App Store apps. Without a doubt, Apple’s iOS is much secured and systematic as compared to Android.
Moreover, this spyware was detected in June for the first time. Still, no action was taken by Google at that time.
Recently, a famous application Camscanner was also found to be a culprit for being spyware. In case you have missed it, here is the link of the article: Why is Camscanner Banned?
Conclusion
I always mention to not download any application other than the official Google Play Store or Apple App Store. However, it seems that even the Google Play Store is not secured.
The only solution is to install only reputed applications and those apps which you really need.
Don’t forget to share this article in all your Whatsapp groups and Facebook handles so that maximum people come to know about this Joker malware.
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