APKPure App Contained Malicious Adware, Say Researchers

Security researchers say APKPure, a widely popular app for installing older or discontinued Android apps from outside of Google's app store, contained malicious adware that flooded the victim's device with unwanted ads. From a report: Kaspersky Lab said that it alerted APKPure on Thursday that its most recent app version, 3.17.18, contained malicious code that siphoned off data from a victim's device without their knowledge, and pushed ads to the device's lock screen and in the background to generate fraudulent revenue for the adware operators. But the researchers said that the malicious code had the capacity to download other malware, potentially putting affected victims at further risk.

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[DontBeAMoran]

And thus the solution is simple: ban money.

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[laktech]

This app is done.

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[clovis]

Is APKPure from the APK that plagued slashdot with his hosts file product for what seems like forever?

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[sheph]

I don't know but he was certainly the first one I thought of.

App Stores

[Anonymous Coward]

For people who say Apple phones are bad because they only allow you to publish through the app store (getting a cut), while Google phones are good because apart from the play store (which takes a cut), you can install other stores that don't take a cut, please note that these "other stores" are like APKPure - providing only free apps (legal or pirated depending on the store), possibly with malware. As a mobile software publisher I have no choice other than the Apple store or the Google store - and actually

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[DontBeAMoran]

actually the Apple store gets me more money

Of course it does, because Android users are too cheap to pay for anything.

Re: App Stores

[maybe111]

Apple mostly check for violations that hurt their business... not malware.

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[SleepingEye]

Not really. Multiple malwares have been detected (some by white hat, some by malicious hackers) and people like you still buy in that it's secure. Remember, the only people who can reliably scan things is APL -- no other security company can look at broad swaths of apps. Add to that the vast majority was *NOT* discovered by APL. The white hat hackers admitted, the source of the malware (a compromised SDK) was found and traced, or the feature was discovered by a large amount of the populace (flashlight

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[pecosdave]

We should have the option to do as we please.

As consumers it's up to us to make sure we aren't getting into shady territory.

I have gotten a HUGE Android game library using The Humble Bundle. Not an option on Apple. I use F-Droid to get things that Google censors, and in a couple of cases I get APKs straight from websites to get around the censorship issue.

I'm glad there's an Amazon app store option, though in practice years ago I found it was more of the pain to use on normal Android so I relegated it to

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[pecosdave]

I'm the guy with money that I'm not giving to Apple because they won't let me that's who.

I've also gotten people to jump ship on Apple by influencing their purchasing decisions.

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[systemd-anonymousd]

If computers were recreated from scratch today it'd be impossible to execute code without a corporation's permission, and, worse still, people who once called themselves nerds and hackers would celebrate the decision for "our own safety and security."

The ability of PCs to serve as general computing devices still exists only because they've been grandfathered in. When the one or two generations of people used to this die out, I suspect we'll lose this final bastion of digital freedom, fundamental though it w

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[KiloByte]

And what you say is the cause for the ongoing attack on rms.

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[Solandri]

Odd that you would post that on the same page as a story where Apple refused to make an Android version of iMessage because "it will hurt us more than help us." Not "it will help our users more than it hurts us." If you're trusting Apple to do The Right Thing for its users when it comes to managing the app store, your trust is sorely misplaced.

Re: App Stores

[aRTeeNLCH]

You can get money through F-droid. I know this for a fact, since I've donated to a number of apps there.

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[SleepingEye]

So you just decided to ignore the biggest companies / biggest reach on the planet? Amazon app store? Galaxy Apps? Huawei AppGallery? Don't forget, APL gets you the most money if you're one of the lucky 1% that everyone downloads. You also have to factor in your development, hardware cost, etc. --- they're significantly higher. Don't forget to subtract the money you make.

Really stupid to use that instead of Play store

[BanHammer]

But also many companies like Xiaomi phones do exactly such things,even Fire tablets have lock screen ads by default,but they tell you before. If we talk about unwanted ads,everyone is guilty.

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[groobly]

Sure. But the play store doesn't allow you to install old versions. And at least 50% of the time, the new version is worse than the old version, or just doesn't work right on your device, or in some cases the new version itself has malware, or spyware, or more advertising.

Main use...

[jawtheshark]

My main use of APKPure is to be able to use an Android phone without a Google Account, but still be able to install applications that would have been free in the Google store.

Re: Main use...

[aRTeeNLCH]

I use mostly apps from F-droid, but for those apps that are "only" available on play store I use aurora store from F-droid. No Google account on my android phone, but e banking and such works fine.

This is what Apple is afraid of

[Dixie_Flatline]

Not so much of the malware—that could happen on their watch too. What Apple hates is taking the blame for something that isn't actually their fault. (They hate taking the blame for things that ARE their fault too, don't get me wrong, but at least they can take that on the chin and just never speak of it again. See: butterfly keyboard.) Users installing this stuff should know the risks, but if a friend or family member tells them to do it and this happens, Apple is the one who has these people come int

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[SleepingEye]

If you lobby against right-to-repair, they better have bad press for refusing to repair or severely overcharging for a flaw of their own design. (Butterfly keys, loose backlight wire, overheating battery pack, etc.)

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[Dixie_Flatline]

Can't argue. Right-to-repair solves a lot of problems for them, honestly. They can just punt things that aren't their fault or have nothing to do with them.