Users who have downloaded the app, which is contaminated with Joker malware, have been urged to uninstall it immediately.
Over half a million Android users have installed an app used to deliver Joker malware after downloading it from the Google Play store.
Cybersecurity researchers
at Pradeo identified the malware, which Google has now removed from its official Android app marketplace. Before its removal, the app, called 'Color Message', was downloaded by more than 500,000 Android users.
Advertised as an app that allowed users to personalise their default SMS messages, Color Message was a front to deliver
Joker, one of the most prolific forms of Android
malware.
Once installed, the malware does three things: it simulates clicks in order to generate revenue from malicious ads; subscribes users to unwanted paid premium services to steal money and commit billing fraud; and accesses users' contact lists and sends the information to attackers. Researchers suggest there's evidence that stolen information is sent to servers hosted in Russia.