Researchers have discovered that over 60,000 Android apps have been infected with adware-pushing malware for half a year. Here’s how to stay safe from many Android apps:.

We all love using smartphones, especially Android ones, where we have such flexibility that no one else has. You might be surprised to learn that these smartphones have been vulnerable to cyberattacks for six months. According to a report from Bitdefender, a Romanian cybersecurity firm, over 60,000 Android applications have been disguised as legitimate apps.

In this trap, hackers take advantage of third-party installations and push adware silently onto the phone. Last month, Bitdefender updated its software security feature with a new anomaly function that detects malicious apps installed silently on your phone. Even though Bitdefender publicly announced this data, many people have yet to learn about it. So, let’s look at what it is and how to prevent it.

Bitdefender detected over 60,000 different apps carrying adware on your phone.

Malware and adware are two different things, but adware falls under the category of cyberattacks. Hackers offer fake security software, game cracks, mods, Netflix, and utility apps through third-party apps. People attempt to install such apps through these sites by using third-party installations. Once the app is launched on your phone, it retrieves the ad URLs.

The main aim of hackers here is to showcase adware on your phone and earn as much revenue as possible. Sometimes, cybercriminals use ransomware techniques, leaving your essential data for money. Bitdefender says such adware campaigns started in October 2022 and targeted the US after South Korea, Brazil, the UK, Germany, and France.

That’s not all. These adware apps are clever when you install and launch them. An error message is displayed, and the app attempts to be uninstalled. But in reality, there is no such program that can be uninstalled. Moreover, the app label doesn’t have an icon or UTF-8 character, which results in untraceable adware.

However, Dr.Web and CloudSEK researchers have already claimed that a specific malicious app was installed more than 400 million times from apps on Google Play. However, Google has a concept that stops the spread of malware before the user can access it. Keep an eye out for such malware and adware all the time. For a better understanding, I’m sharing a few preventative tips below.

Uninstall the problematic apps.

The first thing you need to do is remove the apps causing problems. Analyze the apps you innocently installed out of greed, such as APK files for game mods. Then, go to your phone’s settings >> Apps management >> Uninstall that app. Meanwhile, monitor the third-party APKs you have downloaded and installed. Uninstall them. Make sure to restart your device after all such uninstallations.

Enable Play Protect

Android devices have a formal app store called the Google Play Store. From there, users download apps from official links. Google is also known for its adware-like behavior, for which it has added a feature called Play Protect. However, it is by default enabled on your device, but sometimes you need to double-check and enable the option “scan device for security threats.” If you don’t know how to do it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Play Store.
2. Tap on Menu >> Play Protect.
3. The next step is to enable the option to scan for security threats on the device.
4. That’s all; you’re done.

Manage website notifications

Hackers primarily use notifications on Android phones, where people tap on such notifications with such greed that it sometimes leads to hacking. When you visit any third-party website, they may offer you a notification option. If you enable such notifications by mistake, you will likely be hacked. For this reason, managing third-party notifications is the only way to escape them. To do that, open the site settings you want to disable notifications for, tap on notifications, and then disable them. Follow the same steps for every suspected third-party website.

In conclusion, always be alert to websites offering premium mods and similar things that are available for free. Do not believe such things; otherwise, you may lose the authenticity of your Android phone. Apart from that, follow these tips and tricks to avoid adware issues on your Android phone. These are the things I found relevant to saving your phone from adware. If you have any questions, ask them below.

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