Advertising malware, Iconads, was spotted in 352 Android applications. And it’s not over: it is regularly replied in new apps.
A major advertising fraud campaign and targeting Android users has recently been identified. Human researchers, a company specializing in cybersecurity, nicknamed it iconads. At least 352 infected Android applications are concerned, and you will quickly understand for the experts baptized it as well.
Applications that are part of the Iconads malware display a Large quantity of advertisements to the user. These are random, not based on preferences or the user’s advertising profile, and are disseminated without the consent of the victims.
Iconads, advertising hell on Android
One of its perverse effects is that the apps mask their icon on the interface. The goal is to discourage users from deleting them, since it is not enough for long support on the home screen to uninstall the software. The user must make the effort to go to the long list of apps installed on his smartphone and find the one that displays this whole ad, among tens, even hundreds, of services.
We do not know how many devices have been affected. But at the peak of the campaign, we counted 1.2 billion requests per day. It is therefore likely that many users have dealt with Iconads. The American continent is the most affected by the phenomenon, Brazil (16.35 %), Mexico (14.33 %) and the United States in mind (9.5 %). But mobiles have been affected worldwide. The first applications linked to Iconads appeared in 2019, and news gradually arrived to take the place of the old ones, banned from the Play Store by Google.
“With the various developments in this threat, researchers expect continuous adaptation, with new published applications and new obfuscation techniques added”explains the report. Even if these apps now have a short lifespan before being withdrawn from the Play Store, they are quickly replaced. Look carefully about the notes and reviews before downloading an application on the Play Store. If there are few of them, the app may not be legitimate.
