These apps are no longer on the Google Play Store for stealing user data

Google removed several apps from the Google Play Store after discovering they contained spyware that stole sensitive information. According to the Wall Street Journal, the data collection was done by a company that it believes is conducting cyberintelligence missions for the United States.

The presence of spyware has been detected by the company AppCensus, which has published a very detailed report on its blog. Explain how some apps (at first glance harmless and with millions of downloads) include a Software Development Kit (coelib.c.couluslibrary) that collects a large amount of data from devices that are installed and transmitted to the server of a company registered in Panama called Measurement Systems.

What is spyware

Spyware is a type of malware that tries to stay hidden while secretly recording information and tracking your online activities, both on computers and smartphones.

They can monitor and copy everything you write, upload, download and store. Some strains of spyware are also capable of activating cameras and microphones to see the person, and listen without the user noticing.

By definition, spyware is designed to be invisible, which can be one of its most harmful attributes: the longer it goes unnoticed, the more havoc it can cause. It is like a virtual harasser that follows you through your use of the device, while collecting personal data.

Google removes a wide selection of apps that collected data on Android

One point that caught the attention of the researchers was that the code responsible for collecting information behind users' backs did not work the same way in all applications that included it, even when they use the same SDK version. Here are three examples that AppCensus found:

1. An application that used a smartphone as a computer mouse was found to collect and transmit the MAC address of the router to which the device was connected. This app has more than 10 million downloads worldwide.

2. Another application reported by Google that contains spyware is a widget to see and know the weather with more than a million downloads. It was discovered that this app could “capture” any item copied to the clipboard and send it to the metering system server. Therefore, if a user copied a password or any other sensitive data, it would fall into the wrong hands.

3. And they also found more extreme cases, such as barcode reader and QR with more than 5 million downloads from the Google store. This application could collect the exact phone number, email address, device location through GPS, the mobile phone's IMEI, the public name (SSID) of the WiFi network, and the MAC address of the router without it being connected.

Logically, only a few cases observed by specialists have been mentioned. In fact, AppCensus has published the list along with other applications in which the measurement system SDK has been discovered and its scope is very wide; from apps that warn of the presence of radars on the track, to messaging platforms, audio tools and prayer guides.

Although this information has been made public in recent hours, the findings are not new. Researchers informed Google of the presence of this spyware in October 2021; since then, the people of Mountain View have deleted these and other applications in which they also detected the presence of malicious code.

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