Just remember to back up your device first.
Tap on them to uninstall and remove them.įor extra peace of mind, you can also reformat and erase your phone with a clean install of Android. Scroll through your installed apps until you find one of the names listed above. To uninstall any of these apps, open your Settings and tap the Apps menu. If you have any of the following apps on your Android, it’s time to get rid of them once and for all: If any of them are, you’ll need to manually remove them to protect your device and data from harm.Īvast put together a complete list of the malicious apps it found to help users clean up their phones. I’m tired of malicious apps! Which ones do I need to get rid of?Įven though a few of the apps mentioned above were removed by Google, it’s still recommended you check your phone to make sure they’re not installed. What nobody is sure of is whether or not the exploit developers used was on purpose or accidental. This allowed them to get away with collecting data without Google even noticing.įortunately, Google quickly addressed the apps and removed them from the Play Store. While installed, they used a loophole in their game engines to collect Android ID and Android Advertising ID data. The three apps, titled Princess Salon, Number Coloring, and Cats & Cosplay, have more than 20 million downloads between them. Researchers from The International Digital Accountability Council (IDAC) reported three kids’ apps to Google for stealing user data and violating company policy. The malicious adware apps mentioned above aren’t the only kind of Google Play malware targeting kids. Want more of Kim’s tech tips right to your inbox? Try out her free email newsletters here. Or, in another scenario, they could end up infecting their parent’s phones. Kids won’t know they’re downloading malware if they see a convincing YouTube ad, and could end up infecting their phone by accident. If malicious apps are getting advertised on YouTube, that’s a double-failing on Google’s part.Īnd to make matters worse, the fact that these apps are mostly games and puzzles means the primary victims are kids and parents. In reviews for several of the apps, users mention YouTube ads that convinced them to download. These apps are all part of a family of malware called HiddenAds, which is a well-known Android Trojan.
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