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15 anime-themed apps pulled from Google Play due to malware

Android otaku just can't catch a break

15 anime-themed apps pulled from Google Play due to malware
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A malware researcher for McAfee Labs has identified 15 apps available on the official Google Play market that were vectors for a particularly nasty malware infection.

McAfee estimates that at least 70,000 users have downloaded these malicious apps and might face potential infection.

Call for the doctor quick

The trojan, identified as Android/DougaLeaker.A, installs itself alongside apps meant to show trailers of upcoming Japanese video games, anime titles, and erotica.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the target audience of Japanese otaku, it would be a fair wager that the apps saw download activity by fans of Japanese games and anime in the US and UK.

During the installation of the purported trailer-viewing app, two suspicious permission requests (read contact data and read phone state and identity) pop up on the screen.

If the user consents to these - and the device has an active internet connection - the user’s Android ID, phone number, and contact lists are forwarded off to a remote server. At that point, a trailer video plays on the user’s phone… so it’s not all bad.

This latest malware infection is particularly troublesome in that it snuck into the official Google Play marketplace and so the usual tactics of shopping from official channels would not safeguard an enterprising otaku from this particular trojan.

Via: McAfee Labs

Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.