Instead, after the first run they hid their icons and repeatedly opened the browser to flash ads. To be clear, the apps were totally useless from a user perspective. Instead of doing anything they claimed, the apps turned users’ smartphones and tablets into extremely intrusive advertising tools. After that, the app and the ads should disappear.Although we recently reported finding 20 apps in Google Play posing as Minecraft modpacks - the most popular with more than a million downloads - Minecraft-themed malware continues to pop up in Google Play. Locate the malicious app in the list and tap to uninstall it. Simply navigate to Settings -> Apps & notifications on your Android device and then tap to see all apps. If you or someone you know has installed one of these apps, the way to stop the ads is by locating and uninstalling the app, which doesn't prove very hard if you know where to look. Kaspersky has informed Google about the malicious Minecraft apps it found and most have now been removed, but some still persist and others will no doubt appear. These apps also have the ability to open your browser, Google Play, Facebook, and load YouTube videos. After that, ads will start appearing in a constant stream every few minutes.
However, at this point the app icon disappears making it more difficult to find to uninstall. Instead, the app typically opens once after installation and then waits for the user to get frustrated and close it. The fake apps advertise themselves as modpacks for the game, but no mods are ever loaded. Worriyngly, the installs for these apps range from 500 to over one million, proving Minecraft is a lucrative name for the criminals to take advantage of. So it should come as no surprise cybercriminals are taking advantage and using the Minecraft brand to spread malware on mobile devices.Īs Graham Cluley reports (Opens in a new window), security vendor Kaspersky Labs discovered more than 20 Minecraft Android apps (Opens in a new window) on the Google Play store that are malicious. Minecraft continues to be extremely popular, especially among the younger generations who use it both to have fun and learn.
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