With all its life-changing magic, the Android smartphone fails when It sucks your time, sucking up your battery, and most of all, suck up your data. We have prepared a list of some malicious apps you should delete from your mobile phone immediately. These malicious apps monitor you all the time, damage your mental health and claim to care about your personal information, but never practice what they are preaching.
Keeping in mind that you always need to perform research before installing and seek to familiarize yourself with the app development company — it will be a good indication of whether or not the software is trustworthy. Read the user reviews, check the app name quickly by Google to see if there are any news articles about it, and compare it to other applications with a similar feature. Whether the device is a pedometer that needs more data than most pedometer-related methods, you may have a parasite of data on your hands.
1. TikTok
Secretary of State Mr. Mike Pompeo said in early July that the US is considering a ban on TikTok — the wildly popular social media app in which teenagers producing and uploading lip-sync videos, short comedy clips, and dances.
The vitriol against TikTok — owned and run by Beijing-based ByteDance — comes in part from reports that the website deliberately invades its users’ privacy, potentially passing on data to the oppressive Chinese government. There has been no evidence of any state-sponsored spying, however.
The main reason we have got TikTok on the page? The app’s collecting a lot of useful info. Even though it may not be harmful, users must at least be vigilant about whether a social media app wants access to the information such as your device IDs, memory use, applications installed on your smartphone, your device IP address, or your new WiFi access points.
2. Angry Birds
Heartbreaking but real: Angry Birds, even after so many years, is not your buddy.
The game was launched by Finnish developer Rovio Entertainment back in 2009 and has been an instant sensation. Had everything gone wrong? Okay, all of this began with Edward Snowden.
Early on, the notorious hacker reported that the popular video game siphoned tons of user data. Still, all of us took him funny until it became the US national news. Also, the National Security Agency and its British equivalent, the headquarters of government communications, were gathering and distributing personal data about players of the game.
An ad database hidden in some code of the game let the company promote ads to its customers, and that ad data was utterly transparent in an unexpected turn of fate. , That implied confidential data such as phone numbers, call logs, political information, location, and even details about the gender identity and sexual orientation of people became public and accessible to and outside such government agencies.
The company says the Android app now is free, but perhaps you should only take a break from targeting pigs and shooting birds for a while.
3. GasBuddy
Unfortunately, lots of appropriate and positive apps are among the most significant risks to your data protection. That’s just because, regardless, they rely on the data.
For example, take GasBuddy. It’s designed to help you save precious money at the pump by enabling you to compare rates at local gas stations — wherever you go and — but it also includes collecting loads and loads of location data for making those calls.
The company previously informed its customers of a shift in terms and conditions via an email and a push notification, Popular Mechanics has been told by the company’s general attorney.
“When you access the Service via a smartphone, and if your preferences are configured to allow information to be collected, we will also automatically collect information on your driving habits, including, but not limited to, driving distance, pace, accelerating and braking habits,” read the terms of service.
That part of the privacy statement relates to a “Drive” app that gathers data to tell you regarding your driving behavior. GasBuddy has said that this is an opt-in program.
Even if you’re using the app, you have at least some valuable data to turnover. This is true of all GPS location systems.
Sure, only the gas station’s location details may be used to coordinate locations such as where you live, sleep, workplace, and go out, but continually gathering detailed information about your site all the time sounds like a full-on Big Brother implementation.
5. Malicious Apps on Facebook
Evina, a Parisian cybersecurity company, has found 25 applications using Malware and suspicious codes to steal your Facebook logins’ passwords. Surprisingly enough, many of them tend to be devices connected to generic wallpapers or flashlights.
“This malware can effectively destroy your offline and online life by making off with one of the most respected digital commercial property credentials,” the firm published in a post on the official website.
Evina has been working with Google to delete the malicious apps from the Google Play store, but if you do have any of them using on your smartphone or any other device, please be sure to remove them as soon as possible:
- Contour Level Wallpaper
- iPlayer & wallpaper
- Video Maker
- Colour Wallpapers
- Pedometer
- Powerful Flashlight
- Super Wallpapers Flashlight
- Padenatef
- Wallpaper Level
- Super Bright Flashlight
- Super Flashlight
- Solitaire Game
- Accurate Scanning of QR Code
- Composite Z
- Screenshot Capture
- Daily Horoscope Wallpapers
- Wuxia Reader
- Plus Weather
- Anime Live Wallpaper
- iHealth Step Counter
- tqyapp. fiction
- Classic Card Game
- Junk File Cleaning
- Synthetic Z
- File Manager
6. IPVanish VPN
VPNs (virtual private networks) have become increasingly common over the last ten years, but they have been around 1996. They aim to disguise your online activity by establishing a secret internet network from a public connection and providing privacy and anonymity online. Virtual private networks hide the origin of your network IP (Internet Protocol), making it almost impossible to locate you. You can also make it look like you’re surfing from Slovakia when you’re physically in the United States.
Unfortunately, most VPN apps aren’t free, even one of the most famous IPVanish Vpn services. YouTubers and other marketers are promoting the premium subscription heavily since it has a profitable partner program. However, as per a YouTube analysis by Lee TV, a tech review vlog, IPVanish, was revealed to be storing user data and supplying it to US officials in 2018.
Isn’t it Strange? After it was detected, IPVanish left the activity, but it triggered many customer confidence problems, causing others to revoke their subscription and uninstall the app.
The partnership with the government, though kaput, raises the question: Who else does IPVanish share data with, though failing to inform clients properly?
7. Apps claiming to increase the device RAM
RAM (Random access memory) is used by phones and computers to store data required in real-time or at the next process. So, RAM keeps faster devices like computers and smartphones. And to increase a device’s RAM capacity, you will need to purchase one, which is sometimes very costly.
Some malicious Apps offer to improve or increase your device RAM space. Apps like 4GB RAM Memory Booster-AppLock and RAM Booster (Memory Cleaner) clean your device’s cache to increase the capacity temporarily. This is something your smartphone already can do on its own, and these applications tend to be nothing more than an excuse to incorporate and gather the data to help you. So be cautious.
8. Facebook
No one will be surprised about this one, but you must seriously consider removing Facebook App if you don’t know already. Much like Instagram and Twitter, studies have found its users spending way too much time on the app, leading to depression or anxiety.
Yet, the problems related to privacy are of similar importance. The Cambridge Analytica fiasco last year resulted in 87 million compromised accounts whose privacy was breached in a major data leak that resulted in a US Probe from the Federal Trade Commission.
Facebook tends to have security breaches almost regularly, but the company itself still harvests the data to create a profile for marketers. The Facebook app helps you record audio, upload videos and images, attach and remove contacts, read your text and calendars, and much more.
The Facebook app also runs continuously in the background. It sends you irritating push alerts that kill your battery life and bandwidth caps (if your network provider doesn’t have an unlimited data plan).
As a solution, you can add a Facebook site shortcut to your smartphone’s home screen on Android or bookmark under your Apple iPhone favorites to reduce the data collection. It would help if you remembered to close the tab when you finish your work.
9. CamScanner
If you are working from home, you likely do not have an immediately available printer or fax machine, or scanner. So, when your manager or boss asks you to sign, scan, and directly send a paper, that’s where malicious apps like CamScanner you need. The app allows you to capture a document and convert it into a PDF file instantly. Of course, it’s cool enough, but it was loaded with crawls in your smartphone before the Malware.
In June, analysts at Kaspersky, a Russian cybersecurity company, detected Malware in various CamScanner app versions. In a blog post, the analysts mentioned the Malware as:
“As the name implies, the module is a Trojan-Dropper, meaning that the module downloads and runs another malicious module from an encrypted file included in the resources of the device. This” dropped “Malware, in effect, is a Trojan-Downloader that installs more malicious modules depending on what its developers are up to at the moment.
It seems like the problem with ransomware or Malware has been fixed, as the CamScanner app is available in the Google Play store. The breach of trust is justification enough to turn to a similar application that will do the same thing, anyway. As a better option, try out the Microsoft Office Lens or Adobe Scan.
9. YouVersion Bible
It is a pretty straightforward app featuring the complete Bible text. Then what could go wrong? This year, the most popular Bible app, YouVersion, has been downloaded on about 300 a million smartphones, and it is the divine right of the user to collect all your data.
If you like, YouVersion can link and reconnect to WiFi, change the content saved on your smartphone, track your position, and read all your contacts. And it certainly is not about letting a higher force knows what you are doing. It is showing you ads.
A YouVersion representative has told ExpressVPN that you do not have to be worried about it. The app’s privileges are obviously intended to ensure “the best possible experience for our customers” and that the company, a non-profit, “will never sell user information or personally identifiable information.” But Analysts are not convinced.
10. Randonautica
As we all love crazy adventures as much as the other guy, but not when you are in a box with bodies inside, exactly how a group of young people on TikTok discovered Randonautica, your adventure style app.
Use the app, share your location, set a goal, and follow the screen’s instructions. It is essentially a random number generator, but users have had disturbing encounters (although the validation distortion can clarify some of these).
We’re not as worried about privacy or monitoring for this app, so getting it on your smartphone doesn’t automatically pose a risk. If you visit random places, the threat comes into the picture, so always take caution: do not go out late at night and not assault private property.
Almost all of the below Android Malicious Apps are infected with Malware.
Do you know about “Joker Malware”? Just recent month, it turned out that the malware-infected two dozen Android devices, which are built to sign up for subscription services without your approval. This might cost you thousands of dollars if you do not regularly review your bank or credit card statements.
“We have found it so far in 24 malicious apps with over 472,000 installations in total,” CSIS Security Group cybersecurity investigator Aleksejs Kuprins published in a blog post.
Kuprins admits the virus “stalks SMS messages from the victim [and] the contact list and system data.”
Many of the notes from the code, he discovered, were written in Chinese, so this might mean where the threat originated from.
Google pulled the affected malicious apps from its store after the Malware was detected, so if you’ve either bought or installed one of the following applications, you must not only remove them instantly, but you should also review your bank and credit card statements to detect any fraud.
Below is a full list of identified affected Android malicious Apps:
- Mini Camera
- Print Plan Scan
- Rapid Face Scanner
- Reward Clean
- Ignite Clean
- Leaf Face Scanner
- Ruddy SMS
- Sony Camera
- Spark Wallpaper
- Advocate Wallpaper
- Age Face
- Altar Message
- Dazzle Wallpaper
- Declare Message
- Display Camera
- Great VPN
- Humour Camera
- Advocate Wallpaper
- Age Face
- Altar Message
- Antivirus Security — Security ScanBeach
- CameraBoard picture editing
- Certain Wallpaper
- Climate SMS
- Collate Face Scanner