A recent report by researchers at security firm McAfee has revealed that more than 60 apps are infected with the Goldoson malware. The worse part is that these popular South Korean apps are downloaded and installed over a million times. The developers of these apps accidentally added the malware by using a third-party library that contained the components plus the Goldoson malware.
Speaking of the Goldoson malware, researchers at McAfee pointed out that this malware can collect a list of apps installed on your device and the names of synced and connected devices via Bluetooth, GPS, or Wi-Fi. This data collection process gets activated after every two days. This will then target fraud ads to run in the background without the user's consent or them knowing anything about it.
Most Goldoson malware-infected apps are already removed from the Play Store
Google is already aware of the malware and has removed most of the apps from the Play Store. Do note that the developers were also affected in the same way as the users who installed these Goldoson malware-infected apps. According to the report, below is the list of apps that should be uninstalled right away if you have them on your phone.
- L.POINT with L.PAY
- Swipe Brick Breaker
- Money Manager Expense & Budget
- TMAP
- Lotte Cinema
- Genie Music
- Cultureland version
- GOM Player
- Megabox
- LIVE Score Real-Time score
- Pikicast
- Compass 9: Smart Compass
- GOM Audio – Music, Sync lyrics
- TV – All About Video
- Guninday
- Item mania
- LOTTE WORLD Magicpass
- Bounce Brick Breaker
- InfiniteSlice Infinite Slice
- Norae bang
- SomNote – Beautiful note app
- Korea Subway Info: Metroid
- GoodTVBible
- Happy Mobile Happy Screen
- UBhind: Mobile Tracker Manager
- Mafu Driving Free
- Girl singer WorldCup
- FSP Mobile
- Audio Recorder
- Catmera
- Cultureland Plus
- Simple Air
- Lotteworld Seoul Sky
- Snake Ball Lover
- Play Geto
- Memory Memo
- PB Stream
- Money Manager (Remove Ads)
- Inssaticon – Cute Emoticons
- ECloud
- SCinema
- Ticket Office
- Lotteworld Aquarium
- Lotteworld Water Park
- T map for KT, LGU
- Random number
- AOG Loader
- GOM Audio Plus – Music, Sync
- Swipe Brick Breaker
- Safe Home
- Chuncheon
- Fantaholic
- Cinecube
- TNT
- Bestcare Health
- InfinitySolitaire
- New Safe
- Cashnote
- TDI News
- Eyesting
- TingSearch
- Krieshachu Fantastic
- Yeonhagoogokka
Do note that although most apps have already been removed from the Play Store, that doesn't mean they aren't harmful now. You should uninstall them from your phone and other devices, as they can steal your data even if they are on a device you do not actively use.
