Google Playstore Apps found to be infected with Joker Malware

The infamous Joker Malware has been found infected with many apps in the Google play store. Many of these have thousands of downloads and installs. Installing an app full of Joker malware will lead the user to subscribe to unwanted services. The warning is that it may cost money. One such app, the Emoji One Keyboard, has already registered over 50,000 installations.

Kaspersky’s malware analyst Tatiana Shishkova tracks the appearance of Joker malware on several apps available at some point in the Google Play Store. Some apps have no installations registered, but some have thousands of downloads. The Joker has appeared over the years and can access contacts and SMS messages without user permission. More than a dozen apps have been reported regarding Joker malware, so if the phone features any of these programs, they should be deleted.

These are malware-infected apps

1. EmojiOne keyboard (50,000+ installs),
2. QRcode scan (10,000+ installs)
3. The classic Emoji keyboard (5,000+ installs)
4. Super Hero-effect (5,000+ installs)
5. Blender-Photo Editor Easy Photo Editor background (5,000+ installs)
6. Battery Charging the battery, animations, wallpaper ( 1,000+ installs)
7. For smart TV remote (1,000+ installs)
8. PDF scanner (10+ installs)
9. The volume of the hearing aid Booster (10+ installs)
10. Battery Charging bubble animation effects (10+ installs)
11. Flashing keyboard (10+ installs)
12. Colin flashlight Flash Alert (1+ installed)
13. Halloween colouring (1+ installed)

These are just the latest additions to Shishkova’s list, and you can check out more via their Twitter feed. Several other apps infected with the Joker malware were listed several months ago. Some of these have multiple installations, so users should make sure that none of the affected apps is currently on their smartphones.