French Firm Uncovers Malware Targeting Mobile Users on GooglePlay

Evina, Paris-headquartered scale-up, recently unmasked malware that has been downloaded by over a million mobile users. The company has informed Google of the infected application in the hope that it will be removed.

“Malware and ransomware that targets hundreds of millions of mobile users worldwide can have devastating personal, productivity and financial consequences. It is of the utmost importance for individuals, companies and countries that Evina remains vigilant against mobile malware,“ said David Lotfi, CEO of Evina.

Located on GooglePlay, the Trojan-based malware known as Troll has now been detected in at least three applications including the popular game, Parkour Roller. In a further twist, when users become aware of the malware through excessive mobile charges, Thai bots work to keep the average App Store rating of the infected game high.

This particular brand of malware uses an invisible browser to cause a cellular user’s device to stimulate interaction with online adverts, premium mobile services and more. In addition, disabling a device’s WiFi connection is a key component of the fraud because of the mobile charges that can follow. All of this is done without the user noticing anything is happening.

“To protect our clients and mobile users generally, Evina runs regular monitoring of potential Android-related threats. Our team found the Troll malware by analysing the app’s underlying code using our proprietary malware recognition technology,“ Lotfi explained.