New warning in the Google Play Store: 200 dangerous apps, 8 million installations

Attacks on malicious monitoring applications are on the rise, in what one security company calls the spyware surge. The 101% year-over-year increase is a cause for concern as security researchers at Zscaler ThreatLabz issue a warning that 200 dangerous apps were discovered in the Google Play Store over a 12-month period. According to ThreatLabz 2024 Mobile, IoT & OT Threat Report, these apps have been installed nearly eight million times.

200 malicious and dangerous apps discovered in the Google Play Store

By analyzing data collected by the Zscaler security cloud, which totals 20 billion threat-related transactions and related threats, Zscaler researchers were able to determine that 200 dangerous apps were available on the Play Store between June 2023 and May 2024.

This analysis found that an Android banking malware family, Anatsa, used PDF and QR code reader apps to spread, targeting more than 650 financial institutions around the world. The financial sector was a main target of dangerous apps discovered by Zscaler, an attack vector that has grown 29% since the same period last year. However, this plays an insignificant role compared to spyware, which has increased by a shocking 101%. “It is clear that threat actors are increasingly motivated by the profitability of attacks,” the researchers said, “either through direct monetary gain or through the collection of personalized data and credentials.”

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When it comes to geography, given its tech-savvy population, it’s perhaps not surprising that the U.S. is the top target for cybercriminals, Zscaler said. Japan, China, Singapore and Germany are catching up behind the USA. However, when looking specifically at just mobile malware apps, India tops the list, followed by the US, Canada, South Africa and the Netherlands in the top five spots.

How Google Play Store protects users from malware

Despite malware making its way to the Play Store, Google has had great success proactively detecting and remediating threats. Features like Chrome’s Safe Browsing, Android’s security features, and Play Protect for the Play Store all benefit from threat intelligence and intelligence signals from a variety of Google products and the associated years of threat detection experience. Google’s Play Protect system checks apps at the time of installation and periodically scans your device to detect and help you remove potentially harmful applications. Play Protect may send you notifications of such potential damage and give you the option to uninstall, or to do so automatically in certain circumstances. Play Protect can also disable the app to prevent further damage until it is uninstalled. “In most cases,” Google said, “if a malicious app is detected, you will receive a notification that the app has been removed.”

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