I’ve always been an advocate for Apple’s IOS phone compared to Android, solely from a security stand-point. While Apple controls every app on it’s App Store and restrains many risk-fueled apps, Android Developers are dotted with more freedom on the Google Play store.
This freedom comes at a high price for Android users. Many games that are both paid games but mostly the free ones are notorious for hiding malicious codes that will invade unassuming smartphones users.
They disguise themselves as gaming and puzzles apps and before you know it, you are inundated with ads and pop ups that will ruin the experience and compromise your phone in the process.
These apps are part of an army of malware known as HiddenAds, a well-known Android Trojan. Google is struggling to keep them off from users since many of them have come through advertising from google ads.
To protect yourself your kids from these hidden malwares that collect your info for advertising purposes mainly, Google has removed the blatant ones from the Google Play store, however, for those that remain still, here’s a list of apps you need to remove ASAP to stay safe.
- Rugby Pass
- Iron It
- Shooting Run
- Plant Monster
- Rotate Shape
- Find 5 Differences – 2020 New
- Find the Differences – Puzzle Game
- Jump Jump
- Sway Man
- Desert Against
- Props Rescue
- Number Coloring
- Helicopter Shoot
- Crush Car
- Shoot Them
- Cat & Cosplay
- Princess Salon
- Assassin Legend – 2020 New
- Rolling Scroll
- Flying Skateboard
If you’re using your phone for work or business purposes, this is your call to action to protect yourself, your work information and business.
How to uninstall unwanted and dangerous apps:
Go to your settings, and tap the Apps menu. Scroll through the installed apps until you find the ones needing removal and tap on them to uninstall and remove them.
We would recommend reformatting and erasing your phone with a clean install of Android AFTER you back up your device.
Protect your smartphone in the future like this:
- The biggest perpetrator of them all which always comes as to provide notifications for the games you download. Do not give it permission to use your camera or microphone.
- Emails links. If you receive an email with links and attachments, verify with the sender first before opening the attachment or opening the link. This can come in email or text format. Cybercriminals use this to spread malware to smartphones.
- Other app stores. Don’t use any other app stores if possible and stick to the Google Play store as much as you can.
- Stick to developers you’ve used before who are safe.
At Jemili, we work with businesses to keep their database safe. Should your employee unintentionally has malwares and is connected to your servers, we use robust security measures to keep them off your servers and database.