Avast researchers discover 47 apps on Play Store with intrusive ads and stealth features.
Avast researchers have discovered a large campaign of HiddenAds on the Google Play Store. HiddenAds refers to a family of Trojans that disguise as safe and useful applications, but in fact only serve to display intrusive ads to the user. The discovered apps mask as games and have a timer-triggered hide app icon feature alongside the ability to display device-wide ads. The apps have over 15 million combined downloads on the Play Store.
The initial detection was made through similarities with a previous HiddenAds campaign that was also present on the Play Store. Upon further analysis of the app through apklab.io, Avast researchers were able to identify a wider campaign of 47 apps through shared activities, features, and network traffic.
It became apparent that these apps are disrupting the user experience based on Play Store reviews. This combined with the apps’ ability to hide their icon and display ads outside the app confirmed that they are part of the HiddenAds family.
Apps like these are considered adware, a type of malware that bombards you with intrusive and consistent ads and can steal your personal information, track you online and more.
Features to look out for
The main shared feature across these apps is the appearance of a mobile game. Further research showed the games are generally a re-package of an older version of the game with added layers of ads and the hide icon ..
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