Apple has removed 17 mobile apps from its App Store after a security vendor reported them as infected with malware.
But an unknown number of people who downloaded the free apps continue to be at risk of having their devices being used to quietly carry out ad-fraud related tasks such as continuously clicking on links or opening Web pages without any action on their part.
In a report Thursday, Wandera described the 17 malicious apps it found as containing clicker Trojan malware designed to generate revenues for their developer by fraudulently inflating traffic on pay-per-click websites. An attacker can also use such malware to drain the budgets of rival websites by artificially inflating the amount they owe to an ad network, Wandera said.
The apps were found receiving instructions from a known command-and-control server. Commands from the C2 server included those that could silently load websites, deliver targeted advertising, remotely reconfigure infected devices, and sign up users for expensive services without their knowledge.
The list of infected free apps, which Wandera has published on its website, included productivity, travel, platform utility, restaurant finder, and video-editing apps from India-based AppAspect Technologies. The developer currently appears to have at least 51 apps on Apple's App Store, of which 35 are free.
Michael Covington, vice president of product at Wandera, says the company only tested the free apps. So it is unclear if AppAspect's paid products are similarly infected.
Apple, unlike Google, does not provide any information on download numbers for apps on App Store. As a result, it's hard to determine with any certainty how many people might have downloaded the infected AppAspect software, C ..
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