{"id":79980,"date":"2022-09-27T20:53:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T20:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/android-and-ios-adware-apps-downloaded-13-million-times-delete-these-apps-now\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T20:53:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T20:53:58","slug":"android-and-ios-adware-apps-downloaded-13-million-times-delete-these-apps-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/android-and-ios-adware-apps-downloaded-13-million-times-delete-these-apps-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Android and iOS adware apps downloaded 13 million times \u2014 delete these apps now"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Adware and other <u>malicious apps<\/u> often manage to slip past Google&#8217;s defenses and end up on the Play Store, but this time around, some bad apps also managed to bypass Apple&#8217;s more stringent security checks and make it onto the App Store.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by <u>BleepingComputer<\/u><span class=\"sr-only\">  (opens in new tab)<\/span> and first discovered by HUMAN&#8217;s Satori Threat Intelligence team, 75 Android apps and 10 iOS apps were found to be engaging in ad fraud.  In total, these adware apps have been installed 13 million times.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"hawk-nest\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\"\/>\n<p>Besides bombarding mobile users with visible and even hidden ads, these malicious apps also managed to generate revenue by impersonating legitimate apps on both app stores.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"delete-these-apps-now\">Delete these apps now<\/h2>\n<p>While all of the apps detailed in HUMAN&#8217;s <u>new report<\/u><span class=\"sr-only\">  (opens in new tab)<\/span> have since been removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, if any of them are installed on your devices, you should delete them immediately.  Here are some of the adware apps in question;  you can find the rest by taking a look at the full report.<\/p>\n<p><strong>iOS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Loot the Castle<\/li>\n<li>Run Bridge<\/li>\n<li>Shining Gun<\/li>\n<li>Racing Legend 3D<\/li>\n<li>Rope Runner<\/li>\n<li>Wood Sculptor<\/li>\n<li>Fire Wall<\/li>\n<li>Ninja Critical Hit<\/li>\n<li>Tony Runs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Android<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Super Hero-Save the world!<\/li>\n<li>Spot 10 Differences<\/li>\n<li>Find 5 Differences<\/li>\n<li>Dinosaur Legend<\/li>\n<li>One Line Drawing<\/li>\n<li>Shoot Master<\/li>\n<li>Talent Trap<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"from-poseidon-to-scylla\">From Poseidon to Scylla<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1920px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" alt=\"A hacker typing quickly on a keyboard\" class=\" lazy-image-van\" onerror=\"if(this.src &amp;&amp; this.src.indexOf('missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)\" data-normal=\"https:\/\/vanilla.futurecdn.net\/tomsguide\/media\/img\/missing-image.svg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-320-80.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM.jpg\"\/><source type=\"image\/jpeg\" alt=\"A hacker typing quickly on a keyboard\" class=\" lazy-image-van\" onerror=\"if(this.src &amp;&amp; this.src.indexOf('missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)\" data-normal=\"https:\/\/vanilla.futurecdn.net\/tomsguide\/media\/img\/missing-image.svg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-320-80.jpg 320w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-480-80.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-970-80.jpg 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM-1200-80.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YwKRVzwvLwup6hDGh5bVNM.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Shutterstock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to HUMAN&#8217;s security researchers, these new <u>adware apps<\/u> are part of a fraud campaign they&#8217;ve dubbed &#8220;Scylla.&#8221;  However, researchers believe that this group of apps is actually the third wave on a larger operation they found back in 2019 and named &#8220;Poseidon.&#8221;  Meanwhile, the second wave of bad apps were given the name &#8220;Charybdis&#8221; and were discovered near the end of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, HUMAN has reached out to both Google and Apple and all of the adware apps in question have now been removed from the Play Store and App Store.<\/p>\n<p>If you have one of the <u>best Android phones<\/u>enabling <u>Google Play Protect<\/u> will delete these apps automatically.  It&#8217;s a different story with the <u>best iPhones<\/u> though, as Apple doesn&#8217;t provide clear guidance on how to remove adware apps after they&#8217;ve been installed.  To this end, HUMAN recommends users delete these bad apps manually.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-stay-safe-from-adware-and-other-bad-apps\">How to stay safe from adware and other bad apps<\/h2>\n<p>Adware and malicious apps can be used to infect your devices with <u>malware<\/u> or even to steal your identity.  For this reason, you need to exercise caution when downloading any new app even if it has a high rating and great reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Before downloading an app from the App Store or Play Store, you should look for external reviews online to see if it&#8217;s legitimate.  Video reviews are even better (if they&#8217;re available) since you can see the app in action before installing it on your device.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to enabling Google Play Protect, Android users may also want to consider installing one of the <u>best Android antivirus apps<\/u> on their smartphone for extra protection.  For those who have installed a malicious app, it could be worth investing in the <u>best identity theft protection<\/u> as well.<\/p>\n<p>While Apple is known for more rigorously checking apps before they are allowed onto the App Store, bad apps can manage to slip past the company&#8217;s defenses.  This is why you should avoid installing any app that seems too good to be true.  At the same time, you should only install apps from reputable developers with a proven track record.  The same goes for Android users that don&#8217;t want to fall victim to malware or other attacks.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"hawk-nest\" data-model-name=\"Antivirus Services\" data-rows=\"5\" data-widget-type=\"review\" data-render-type=\"editorial\">\n<div class=\"hawk-main-editorialized\">\n<div>\n<p>Today&#8217;s best Antivirus Services deals<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adware and other malicious apps often manage to slip past Google&#8217;s defenses and end up on the Play Store, but this time around, some bad apps also managed to bypass Apple&#8217;s more stringent security checks and make it onto the App Store. As reported by BleepingComputer (opens in new tab) and first discovered by HUMAN&#8217;s &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/android-and-ios-adware-apps-downloaded-13-million-times-delete-these-apps-now\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Android and iOS adware apps downloaded 13 million times \u2014 delete these apps now<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28643,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/malware-hits-millions-of-android-users-delete-these-apps-right-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":79980,"position":0},"title":"Malware hits millions of Android users \u2014 delete these apps right now","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Another batch of malicious apps filled with adware and malware has managed to slip past Google's defenses and end up on the Play Store.In order to trick unsuspecting users into downloading them, these 36 malicious apps pose as image-editing tools, virtual keyboards, system optimizers, wallpaper changers and other useful tools.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81450,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/9-apps-you-should-delete-from-your-iphone\/","url_meta":{"origin":79980,"position":1},"title":"9 apps you should delete from your iPhone","date":"September 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While we hear a lot about Android apps posing as malware and adware, it's rare for fraudulent iOS apps to sneak through Apple's security and curation. 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This week, security group\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.techspot.com\/images2\/news\/bigimage\/2022\/07\/2022-07-29-image-38.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28014,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/these-28-android-apps-with-10-million-downloads-from-the-play-store-contain-malware\/","url_meta":{"origin":79980,"position":3},"title":"These 28+ Android Apps with 10 Million Downloads from the Play Store Contain Malware","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"As many as 30 malicious Android apps with cumulative downloads of nearly 10 million have been found on the Google Play Store distributing adware. \"All of them were built into various programs, including image-editing software, virtual keyboards, system tools and utilities, calling apps, wallpaper collection apps, and others,\" Dr.Web said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thehackernews.com\/new-images\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgvfqow2z1XORevUpzKGWWXZ2DP4dMaNi-7cycpa3J_bSZKv0tO6MP40HLl7lvVJDIswOmb6I-YoNMLJym4v9oLZQczujsMqcttB3M_Cvm6E-zLs0XrpwaTZ_SGFjckDfi3CPfijZaii8Z88_btcKeHKKfxm7cDyF3kaVvsirGpb2JWVH0Ot3xGiC2sZg\/s1600\/strike-728.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":48499,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/these-35-malicious-android-apps-have-infected-millions-delete-them-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":79980,"position":4},"title":"These 35 malicious Android apps have infected millions \u2014 delete them now","date":"August 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cybercriminals are always devising clever new ways to get their malicious apps on the Google Play Store and a new malware campaign has managed to do just that.According to a new blog post (opens in new tab) from the cybersecurity firm Bitdefender, 35 malicious apps have snuck onto the Play\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52025,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/if-you-can-locate-these-35-apps-on-your-android-phone-delete-them-immediately\/","url_meta":{"origin":79980,"position":5},"title":"If you can locate these 35 apps on your Android phone, delete them immediately","date":"August 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, (adventurous) ladies and gents, we're afraid it's time for another periodic Android security checkup. While no one really enjoys to perform a thorough sweep of every app installed on their mobile phones once every few weeks or so in search for all kinds of different malware, the truth is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/Jzwhquu4gv5ZQF336dDbZE-1200-80.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}