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| Google is removing a popular barcode reader app |
After researchers discovered that the app had turned into malware after the December 2020 update, Google removed the popular Android barcode reader app from the Google Play Store, which had more than 10 million users.
After years of inactivity, the barcode scanner app previously developed by Lavabird has modernized itself and controlled the user's device with the help of malicious code.
The barcode reading app is now reported as a malware by your security provider.
Malicious behaviors of millions of users include watching the default browser run without user intervention and showing ads promoting other potentially dangerous Android apps.
"Many customers have had apps installed on their mobile devices for a long time," said Malwarebytes researcher Nathan Collier. After an update in December, it became a malware.
It is said that this is not the first time that a malicious code has been detected in an Android app.
Usually, in such incidents, third-party SDKs are used by the free version of the app to show ads at a profit.
However, in this case, the opaque and signed malicious code created with the application and installed on the devices of more than 10 million users was grouped into one breath.
Collier added: To verify that this update is from the app developer itself, we will make sure that you are using the same digital certificate signature as in the previous legal version.
The researcher explained that due to the malicious intent, we directly bypassed the adware native Trojan detection class and detected Android / Trojan.HiddenAds.AdQR.
After Google received information from Malwarebytes in December, it removed the barcode scanner app developed by Lavabird from the Google Play Store.
However, millions of other devices could still be affected and introduce unwanted ads to their user base.