The thing about malware that disguises itself as a fake app is that in order to get as many people to download and install it as possible, they tend to be free. After all paid apps tend to close the door on potential targets, right? However in the case of Gunpoder, this is a malware that disguises itself as a Nintendo emulator, and best of all it gets you to pay them.
According to a report from Palo Alto Networks, they have recently discovered three variants of a malware calling itself Gunpoder, which is an app that claims to be an emulator for Nintendo games. Given that there is a lot of love for Nintendo games, there have probably been a few users who have downloaded it since.
Like we said the best part is the fact that you would essentially be paying the hacker to steal your information. Upon launch, users are asked to buy a lifelong license that only costs $0.20-$0.49 that can be paid through services like PayPal or Skrill. From there and once the app is installed, it will be able to steal data from your device, like collecting bookmark and browser histories, as well as send itself to other people over SMS.
Palo Alto Networks claims that so far, the malware is targeting users living in countries such as Iraq, Thailand, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Russia, France, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the U.S. and Spain. In any case if you were to come across such an app, we guess the best thing to do is to avoid it.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Apps, Malware and Security.