{"id":11656,"date":"2018-03-05T11:10:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T19:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/03\/05\/news-5427\/"},"modified":"2018-03-05T11:10:01","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T19:10:01","slug":"news-5427","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/03\/05\/news-5427\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile Menace Monday: Olympics app has more ads than games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Nathan Collier| Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2018 18:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

An app claiming to live stream the 2018 Winter Olympics (but really serving up a blizzard of ads) had a short run on Google Play. It was uploaded to the Play store on February 8, 2018. Since then, it’s been removed. The last known existence of it on the store was a cached snapshot from February 10.<\/p>\n

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Poorly-made app<\/h3>\n

At first, things seem normal with a simple opening screen.<\/p>\n

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After displaying the first ad, it goes onto a navigation screen.<\/p>\n

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Click on each live stream link, and it\u2019s a gamble whether it actually redirects to a functioning live stream or not. I found that most of the time, the app crashed. In contrast, the app’s ability to display ads never falters.<\/p>\n

Click to view slideshow.<\/a> <\/p>\n

More ads than games<\/h3>\n

An app serving up ads<\/a> in order to use it for free is nothing new, and most of us humbly accept. The decision for mobile malware researchers to classify some of these apps as adware isn\u2019t always easy. In this case, the Olympic streaming app doesn\u2019t use anything unusual to serve ads. To put it another way, it isn\u2019t using any known aggressive Ad SDKs. However, when these ads pop up after every click, it’s excessive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that the true intent here is not to live stream the Olympics, but to serve up as many ads as possible before the app crashes. Thus, we gave this failed app a classification of Android\/Adware.LiveStream.<\/p>\n

Combing through Google Play<\/h3>\n

The sheer number of apps like these found on Google Play that teeter on the line between clean or adware is overwhelming.\u00a0As we have found<\/a> time and time again, it\u2019s impossible for Google Play to catch all of these. This is true even with Google\u2019s more advanced Play Protect<\/a> feature.<\/p>\n

Moreover, it\u2019s impossible for mobile malware researchers to keep up with all these \u201cgrey\u201d apps as well. This is especially true with special cases like these, where detailed analysis is needed to make a determination. It\u2019s important to note that even if apps like these do slip through, they are generally low risk.<\/p>\n

User responsibility: tips to stay safe<\/h3>\n

Due to the overwhelming number of questionable apps on Google Play, some responsibility to pick safe apps must fall on users. Here are some tips to stay safe.<\/p>\n

Check the details<\/h4>\n

Before installing an app, check the app\u2019s details page for evidence of anything out of the ordinary. Things to look for are the app\u2019s reviews, number of installs, and the last update. If there are a low number of reviews and\/or the app has poor reviews, be wary. The same goes for a low number of installs of the app.<\/p>\n

Lastly, if the app was recently updated, this could indicate that it was also recently uploaded to Google Play\u2014which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it harder to vet the app’s security. Unfortunately, Google Play doesn\u2019t display when the app was first uploaded, so the updated date is the best data you have to determine whether it’s new or not.<\/p>\n

If, after all this, you decide to install the app and it contains what you think is adware, no need to panic. Most of these grey apps just display annoying ads, and there is no other harm. Simply uninstall and go on with your day.<\/p>\n

APK Samples<\/h3>\n

MD5: 9338E7E6D378DE01C14DB939D51B1D11<\/p>\n

Package Name: com.ww2018OLYMPICLIVETV_6516426<\/p>\n

The post Mobile Menace Monday: Olympics app has more ads than games<\/a> appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blog.malwarebytes.com\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Nathan Collier| Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2018 18:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
An app claiming to live stream the 2018 Winter Olympics had a short run on Google Play before being flagged for adware.<\/p>\n

Categories: <\/p>\n