A recent survey of the cybersecurity company Zscater I discovered more than 90 malicious Android applications hiding on Google Play in recent months. Among them was Anatsa, a particularly devious banking horse. In total, these infested applications of malware have accumulated narcotic downloads of 5.5 million.
More than 90 Android applications found with bank malware
Thursday, Google had deleted the identified applications of the Play Store, according to Tech News Sources. Anatsa, also known as “Teabot”, as well as other malicious software mentioned in the report, operate as a dropper – following PDF code scanners and innocent aspect QR, photography photography tools and health and fitness applications. The report serves as a brutal reminder of the ease with which these dangerous applications can bypass Google safety projections, by sliding on without distrust user devices such as digital pickpockets.
Even if Anatsa represents about two percent of the most common malware, he has a serious punch. This banking Trojan horse is aimed at more than 650 financial institutions, making it a real threat to anyone uses mobile banking. To make things worse, two of its infected applications – both disguised as PDF and QR code readers – had already been downloaded more than 70,000 times when the researchers sounded the alarm.
Anatsa: a Trojan horse with serious consequences
Anatsa is sneaky. Once installed, it mixes just like any other harmless application, while using sophisticated tips to stay hidden and steal bank details. The report specifically called two applications carrying malware: PDF player and file manager by tsarka watchfacces and QR reader and file manager by Risovanul. With names like these, they would not increase any red flag for the average Android user.
Most infected applications have fallen into categories such as file managers, text editors and linguistic translators – all day tools download without a second reflection. Others included photography applications, productivity boosters and personalization applications, which probably covered things like wallpapers and home screen customizations.
More threats hidden on Google Play
Most of these dangerous applications have disguised themselves as everyday tools: file managers, photo editors, personalization applications and even fitness and productivity boosters. While Anatsa and Coper only represented about 3% of the total malware downloads, they are among the worst offenders. These two are not only boring – they can commit fraud directly on a user’s phone and steal sensitive data, which makes them much more dangerous than simple advertising spam applications.
Currently, the five largest threats of malicious software on Google Play include Joker,, University,, Anatsa,, COPEULLand a variety of advertising software. Each of them has their own tips in their round, but they all share a goal: to sneak on devices and make life miserable for people who download them.
Stay safe when downloading apps
Before installing a new Google Play application, take a moment to check the authorizations it requests. If an application wants to access things like the Accessibility service,, SMS messagesor your List of contactsIt is a red flag. Applications should not need this level of access unless they serve a clear goal that requires it – so if something seems useless, it is best to say no.
Security researchers have not publicly listed the 90+ applications they have discovered, and they have not confirmed if they have reported them to Google for withdrawal.
However, for the moment, the two applications infected with Anatsa identified by Zscaller are no longer available on Google Play. A Google spokesperson confirmed that responsible developers had been prohibited, declaring:
“All identified malware have been removed from Google Play.
Google Play Protect also helps protect users by automatically deleting or deactivating known applications to contain this malware on Android devices with Google Play Services. “”
Although this is good news that these applications have disappeared, it always reminds us of being careful when downloading new applications – because once malicious software sneaks on a phone, it is not always easy to spot.
