New List of Potentially Harmful Apps Released: Check Your Phone and Delete Them Now

It’s important to exercise caution as over 60 legal apps available for download from the Google Play store have been discovered to distribute malware on Android devices. These apps have already been downloaded at least 100 million times.

The Goldoson malware is being spread through these apps and can collect data such as a list of installed apps, nearby GPS locations, and names of devices synced via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. It can also commit ad fraud by clicking on ads running in the background without user consent.

This malware was unknowingly installed by developers using a third-party library to save time during app development. Despite Android 11 and newer systems’ strong security measures, Goldoson can still access confidential data from 10% of infected apps, depending on permissions assigned to them.

© BotCrawl

Both Google and the developers have now been informed about the malware. Many of the affected apps have been cleaned by the developers, who were also victims of the malware, but some have not been removed from the Play Store.

Users who have installed an affected app from the Google Play Store can mitigate the risk by either installing the latest update or removing the apps from their devices that are no longer available on the Google App Store. It’s important to note that Goldoson is also present in third-party Android app stores, so it’s very likely that the malicious library is still present in those stores.

Fortunately, most of the affected apps are aimed at Korean users. However, it’s still important to check the list of affected apps to ensure that no one falls victim. The list, published by the cybersecurity company McAfee and updated by PhoneArena, shows the download numbers and whether the app has been fixed or removed from the Google store.

  • L.POINT with L.PAY – over 10 million downloads (updated)
  • Swipe Brick Breaker – 10M+ Downloads (Removed)
  • Money Manager Expense & Budget – Over 10 Million Downloads (Updated)
  • TMAP – Over 10 Million Downloads (Updated)
  • Lotte Cinema – Over 10 million downloads (updated)*
  • Genie Music – Over 10 Million Downloads (Updated)*
  • Cultureland version 2 – over 5 million downloads (updated)*
  • GOM Player – 5 million downloads (updated)*
  • Megabox – 5 million downloads (removed)**
  • LIVE Score Real-Time score – 5 million downloads (updated)*
  • Pikicast – 5 million downloads (removed)**
  • Compass 9: Smart Compass – 1 million+ downloads (removed)**
  • GOM Audio – Music, Sync lyrics – 1 million+ downloads (updated)*
  • TV – All About Video – 1 million+ downloads (updated)*
  • Guninday – 1M+ Downloads (Updated)*
  • Item mania – 1 million+ downloads (removed)**
  • LOTTE WORLD Magicpass – Over 1 million downloads (updated)*
  • Bounce Brick Breaker – 1M+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • InfiniteSlice Infinite Slice – 1M+ Downloads (removed)**
  • Norae bang – over 1 million downloads (updated)*
  • SomNote – Beautiful note app – 1 million+ downloads (removed)**
  • Korea Subway Info: Metroid – Over 1 Million Downloads (Updated)*
  • GoodTVBible – 1M+ Downloads (removed)**
  • Happy Mobile Happy Screen – 1 million+ downloads (updated)*
  • UBhind: Mobile Tracker Manager – 1M+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • Mafu Driving Free – 1M+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • Girl singer WorldCup – more than 500 thousand downloads (updated)*
  • FSP Mobile – 500k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Audio Recorder – 100k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Catmera – 100k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Cultureland Plus – over 100k downloads (updated)*
  • Simple Air – 100k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Lotteworld Seoul Sky – Over 100K Downloads (Updated)*
  • Snake Ball Lover – 100K+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • Play Geto – 100k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Memory Memo – 100k+ downloads (removed)**
  • PB Stream – 100K+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • Money Manager (Remove Ads) – over 100,000 downloads (updated)*
  • Inssaticon – Cute Emoticons – 100K+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • ECloud – over 100,000 downloads (updated)*
  • SCinema – over 50k downloads (updated)*
  • Ticket Office – more than 50 thousand downloads (updated)*
  • Lotteworld Aquarium – Over 50K Downloads (Updated)*
  • Lotteworld Water Park – Over 50K Downloads (Updated)*
  • T map for KT, LGU+ – over 50k downloads (removed)**
  • Random number – more than 50 thousand downloads (updated)*
  • AOG Loader – 10k+ downloads (removed)**
  • GOM Audio Plus – Music, Sync l – 10k+ downloads (updated)*
  • Swipe Brick Breaker 2 – 10K+ Downloads (Removed)**
  • Safe Home – 10k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Chuncheon – 10k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Fantaholic – 5k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Cinecube – over 5k downloads (updated)*
  • TNT – 5k+ downloads (removed)**
  • Bestcare Health – 1000+ downloads (removed)**
  • InfinitySolitaire – 1000+ downloads (removed)**
  • New Safe – 1000+ downloads (removed)**
  • Cashnote – 1000+ downloads (removed)**
  • TDI News – 1000+ downloads (removed)**
  • Eyesting – 500+ downloads (removed)**
  • TingSearch – 50+ downloads (removed)**
  • Krieshachu Fantastic – 50+ downloads (removed)**
  • Yeonhagoogokka – 10+ downloads (removed)**

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