A New Info-Stealing Malware Called Xavier has Infected Almost A Thousand Apps on Playstore

The Google playstore which used to be very secure is now getting porous as programmers/hackers are now deducing means to infiltrate the store with malicious apps without getting detected by the playstore anti malware bots.

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned the Dvmap malware which has managed to infect over 50,000 devices already. Now, Trend Micro security experts just announced in a new report that over 800 apps on the Google playstore are now infected with a new information collecting malware known as Xavier.

According to the report, the malware has been pre-installed on a large number of free Android applications, such as photo editors and wallpapers, and has been downloaded millions of times already.

The Xavier malware started off as an ad library which integrates free apps with pop-up ads as a way of generating revenue. But now it has evolved into a more dangerous malicious software which has the ability to steal sensitive users information which includes email address, device id, model, OS version, country, manufacturer, SIM card operator, resolution, and installed apps.

What makes this malware more dangerous is it's ability to evade detection which will even make it more dangerous for anti-malware app to detect it.

The highest number of infected devices are said to be from South-east Asian countries like Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia, with a lower number from the US and Europe.

I will advice you guys to be watchful of the apps you download. Even if you are downloading from playstore, make sure it's from a trusted developer it at least try to read the reviews. For tips on how to protect your android phone against malware, check out this LINK.

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