Delete Any Apps On Your Phone That Are On This List
You have been warned — get deleting.
A serious threat to Android users has been revealed today, with as many as 2.5 million dangerous apps being installed each and every month. The apps have a nasty trick that fools users into the initial download, and once on a phone the damage is done. There's a new list of apps to delete, but there's also a simple warning that will help keep you safe.
The new report comes courtesy of Integral Ad Science (IAS), the same team that warned of the 'Vapor' attacks on Android phones in March this year. This new threat is dubbed 'Kaleidoscope — due to its constant transformations as it tries to evade detection and analysis." The name has changed but the threat is broadly the same.
The cyber criminals behind this latest ad fraud machine plant benign apps on Google's Play Store that contain none of their malicious code. They then distribute malicious replicas of those apps through third-party app stores and direct installs. Users are directed to those duplicates via messaging and social media channels. To a user it seems that they're downloading a legitimate app through an ad or promotion. And to an advertiser, it seems their ad impressions are coming from legitimate apps.
The attackers' payday comes via those advertisers who have no idea their ads are being pushed out at an industrial scale to infected phones, where they disrupt the normal use of the phone to generate impressions which turn to cash. "The malicious app delivers intrusive out-of-context ads under the guise of the benign app ID in the form of full-screen interstitial images and videos, triggered even without user interaction.'
The SDK driving this malicious behavior has been updated and has now even been retrospectively added into apps that were previously caught doing the same. They now have a differently named SDK at their core. The infected apps are on this list.
This type of threat is well established. A year ago, I reported on the 'evil twin' attacks flagged by Human Security, which warned that the 'Konfety' ad fraud operation had deployed as many as 250 decoy apps on Play Store. Those legitimate and malicious apps shared a common 'CaramelSDK' reference which aided detection and mitigation. Those references have been removed, albeit the original threat itself has not gone away.
IAS says it 'analyzed both earlier and newer versions of benign and malicious variants associated with this scheme, examining previously known apps as well as newly discovered ones involved in this evolving threat.'
Google has removed flagged apps from Play Store and assures Play Protect will safeguard users from known versions of the threat. But this is a sideloading problem and an industry problem. 'The entities behind Kaleidoscope have successfully identified a network of resellers who are not particularly diligent in vetting the quality of the inventory they deliver to advertisers, enabling them to effectively launder their traffic.'
Advice on staying safe is simple. If you're in the habit of sideloading, then scan the list of infected apps and delete any you recognize. Then take care on how many such third-party or direct installs you allow onto your phone.
"The 'Kaleidoscope' threat represents a sophisticated evolution in ad fraud tactics," IAS says, 'where threat actors continually adapt to evade detection and extend the scheme's reach. By rebranding their SDKs, shifting command-and-control infrastructure, and embedding malicious capabilities into benign-appearing applications, these threat actors demonstrate a relentless focus on circumventing defenses.'
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