Android Apps in Google Play Store Capitalizing on Coronavirus Outbreak

Preying on public fears, the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is proving to be a goldmine of opportunity for attackers to stage a variety of malware attacks, phishing campaigns, and create scam sites and malicious tracker apps.

Now in a fresh twist, third-party Android app developers too have begun to take advantage of the situation to use coronavirus-related keywords in their app names, descriptions, or in the package names so as to drop malware, perpetrate financial theft and rank higher in Google Store searches related to the topic.

“Most malicious apps found are bundle threats that range from ransomware to SMS-sending malware, and even spyware designed to clean out the contents of victims’ devices for personal or financial data,” Bitdefender researchers said in a telemetry analysis report shared with The Hacker News.

The find by Bitdefender is the latest in an avalanche of digital threats piggybacking on the coronavirus pandemic.

Using Coronavirus-Related Keywords to Rank in Game Play Store Searches

As people increasingly sought out applications that provided information about COVID-19, malware authors have sneaked in adware, banking trojans (e.g., Anubis, Cerberus, Joker),…