Malware found in 'Updates' app on Google Play

Even after the recent addition of a malware scanner on the Google Play store, malware is still finding its way to the store. According to  PCMag, a trojan has been found on Google Play. The trojan, named FakeLookout.A, steals personal information from devices where it is installed, and transmits all the information to a remote FTP server. The owner of the FTP server has not been identified yet.

The trojan is hidden in an app named ‘Updates’ by developer Good Byte Labs. According to TrustGo Security Labs, the app was “designed to look like an update to the Lookout mobile security application”. The virus was discovered by TrustGo in a package named com.updateszxt.

“The brazen use of a trusted app’s logo shows just how aggressive malware makers are becoming. These fake apps not only put users’ data and privacy at risk, they can damage the reputation of respected developers,” TrustGo CEO Xuyang Li said, adding, “TrustGo continually monitors new apps uploaded to more than 185 marketplaces worldwide and is able to provide App Certification and Brand Protection services that alert developers when malicious clones and apps that falsely use their logos have been found.”

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Malware has been found on Google Play again

Recently, Google had started rolling out an update for Google Play. The latest update to the store allows you to remove apps from the All Apps list, which records all your app downloads to date, in addition to remembering your location in lists, and new icons for notifications and installed apps. The latest version number is 3.9.16. Android Police was the first to report on the matter.

In addition, the updated Play Store remembers where you are when looking at a list, including the All Apps list as well as the My Apps list. This feature will remember your location in a list, so that whenever you click on an option in a list and go back, you’re returned right to the place where you were earlier.

Google recently held a massive discount sale in celebration after its Play Store recorded 25 billion app downloads. The search giant was offering top rated games and apps at discounted rates of just 25 Cents (Rs 13). The company was also promoting special collections like 25 movies you must own, 25 banned books, 25 albums that changed the world and the store’s 25 top selling magazines, at special prices.

Google had also recently opened the doors to being a certified Google Checkout Merchants to app developers based in India. Google has  added India to the list of countries where developers register to be Google Checkout Merchants so that they can charge for apps and include in-app purchases.

According to Google, Android device activation has risen by more than 400 percent over the past year. The number of Android users downloading apps is also now more than it was in the previous three years combined. This has made India the fourth-largest market for app downloads worldwide.