silversurfer
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- Aug 17, 2014
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Three adware apps discovered in Google Play use a special trick to ensure they stay on the victim device for a longer time. They pose as camera-related utilities and have recorded over 700,000 installations, combined.
Each app is listed under a different developer name and their only function is to display ads on the infected device. This aspect is reflected in the user reviews section where people complain about them being fake.
Simple stratagem for a long-lasting effect
To maintain persistence, the adware hides its default icon after launching the fake app for the first time and creates a shortcut for launching it. When the user tries to uninstall it, they can no longer do it from the home screen, where the only option they get is to remove the shortcut.
Lukas Stefanko, malware researcher at ESET, found the three apps, whose names are Excellent Camera, Ideal Camera: Full Featured Camera for Android, and Super Camera Lite 2019.
