Massive Android malware outbreak

IF YOU have an Android handset, your cellphone is likely to have been affected by malware on Google Play Store.

The bad news is that it’s also likely to affect your phone bill.

Play Store has reportedly infected millions of phones with destructive malware, which is believed to stem from at least 50 apps on Google Play.

“ExpensiveWall” is recognised as the second biggest ever malware outbreak to hit Google Play after the Judy malware earlier this year – that’s according to www.express. co.uk.

Researchers Check Point discovered the malware outbreak, which targeted Google’s Android OS and Play Store.

The malware, dubbed as the “ultimate spying tool”, sends oblivious users fraudulent premium text and charges users’ accounts.

It can steal sensitive data and collect information such as the location of a victim using the malware-hit device and its IP address.

The security researchers said the malicious software could have infected as many as 21.1 million devices after being downloaded up to 4.2 million times.

“This was one of the most extensive malware campaigns to infiltrate Google Play Store, both in size and in its malicious effect,” Fortune. com quoted Daniel Padon, mobile threat researcher at Check Point, as saying.

“Unlike most malware found on Google Play, this directly inflicts harm on users,” he said.