This malware affects millions of Android users, are you a victim?

A new strain of malware has been discovered that has affected 10 million Android users. They run the risk of losing money every month on the basis of an expensive subscription. ‘GriftHorse’ is the name of the malware.

GriftHorse malware

The security researchers at Zimperium Labs report a serious malware that was part of a large list of apps that have been circulating in the Google Play Store and beyond since November 2010. Some apps had more than half a million users, and it involves applications from all possible sources. categories.

It is expected that 10 million users worldwide have actually become victims of malware. Google was notified by the researchers and the apps have since been removed from the Play Store. Although they can still be on your phone or in third-party application stores.

The malware we are talking about is called GriftHorse and it is actually a Trojan horse. That is, they are free apps that look interesting at first glance, but cause damage. GriftHorse first bombards users with notifications about alleged prizes they have won. Those notifications adapt to your language and location to make the message more believable. In some cases, users had to process up to five notifications per hour.

36 euros per month

If users nevertheless clicked on such a notification, they ended up on a web page where they had to leave their phone number, supposedly to verify themselves. In reality, they took out an expensive SMS service where they had to pay more about 36 euros per month. However, it could take some users for a while before they noticed these extra costs, and then the costs run high.

The most popular apps with GriftHorse were: ‘Handy Translator Pro’ , ‘Heart Rate and Pulse Tracker’ and ‘Geospot: GPS Location Tracker’. The full list of apps that carry this malware can be found on the Zimperium Labs website. Each time you also see the estimated number of downloads of each app. It is not known who the criminals are behind this malware, but it is certain that they have made millions of euros. Are you with one of the victims, or do you know someone who has been affected by GriftHorse? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article or let the editors know this way.