Published:
October 26, 2021 05:35 GMT
The malicious application was downloaded at least 5,000 times before Google realized it and removed it from its virtual store.
In the absence of an official video game of the popular series ‘The squid game’, a good number of programmers have decided to launch their unofficial applications to take advantage of the success of the Korean series, which is turned in the most watched premiere in Netflix history.
Although many of them legally make money thanks to the numerous ads that are shown in these types of applications, it is no less true that some ‘apps’ are simple facades used by cybercriminals to hack mobile phones and access the bank accounts of the people who download them.
Thus, one of the applications, which was offered in the Play Store – the virtual Android store – and supposedly offered wallpapers based on the renowned series, was actually a ‘malware’ and hid a Trojan virus known as jester, which allowed hackers access bank accounts of the respective user and use them for SMS services for which expensive subscriptions are paid, warned last week ESET’s ‘malware’ researcher Lukas Stefanko, who confirmed the fears of another cybersecurity expert, @ReBensk.
“I would be careful when downloading any unofficial application. And if you still intend to install any of them, I would advise you to read first the reviews of other people who could suggest what the application is about”, commented Stefanko to Forbes.
Once it caught on, Google proceeded to remove the app. The fact is that by that time they had already downloaded it around 5,000 people, who could have been victims of the virus. Although that ‘app’ is no longer available, there are 200 other unofficial applications in the series that, according to experts, are not recommended for download, since they could represent the same problem.
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