Google Pulls 60 Apps From Play Store Over Malware Report

Google has removed 60 games from the Google Play Store after a report from the Checkpoint security firm revealed that the apps had malware which displayed pop-up ads for porn within games. The disturbing part of this story is that most of the games that were infected by this malware were aimed at children. The malware is named Adult Swine.

The security firm’s report mentions that the ads are often pornographic which many adult users are likely to find highly inappropriate in a mobile game, let alone children who shouldn’t be exposed to them at any cost.

The malware was sourcing ads from mainstream ad providers that don’t allow their content to be used in this manner. Some of the ads were also sourced from the malware’s own ad libraries which is where the porn ads originated from.

As if pornographic ads weren’t enough, the malware also uses deceptive ads to trick users. They see pop-ups which say that their device has been infected by a virus. If they click on the add, they’re taken to the Play Store to download an anti-virus app which may not be an anti-virus to begin with and may even be more harmful than the deceptive ad.

Checkpoint reported its findings to Google and the company removed the infected apps from the Play Store. “We’ve removed the apps from Play, disabled the developers’ accounts, and will continue to show strong warnings to anyone that has installed them,” the company said in a statement.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Apps, Google, google play store