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Joker Malware Again šŸƒ

PravinKarthik
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The Belgian Police warned about theĀ return of the ā€˜Jokerā€™ virusĀ , which attacksĀ Android devicesĀ and hides itself in variousĀ  applicationsĀ on theĀ Google Play Store. ThisĀ malwareĀ is capable of subscribing the user to payment services without their authorization andĀ emptying their bank accountsĀ without them noticing.

TheĀ ā€˜Jokerā€™Ā malwareĀ became famous in 2017 for infecting and robbing its victims by hiding in different applications. Since then, theĀ Google Play StoreĀ defense systems have removed aroundĀ 1,700 apps with the ā€˜Jokerā€™ malwareĀ before they were downloaded by users.

In September 2020, theĀ Joker virusĀ was found inĀ 24 Android applicationsĀ that registered more thanĀ 500 thousand downloadsĀ before being removed. It is estimated that that time it affected more than 30 countries including the United States, Brazil and Spain.

How Joker Works ?

TheĀ ā€˜Jokerā€™ Trojan virusĀ belongs to a family ofĀ malwareĀ known asĀ BreadĀ , whose objective is toĀ hack cell phone billsĀ andĀ authorize operations withoutĀ the userā€™s consent. This virus canĀ enter text messagesĀ ,contacts andĀ  other information on theĀ infected smartphone.

It starts with, apps infected withĀ ā€˜Jokerā€™Ā or another MalwareĀ from this family carried outĀ fraud via SMSĀ , but then began to attackĀ online paymentsĀ .

Apps that has a Risk of Joker

The harmful applications that theĀ Google Play StoreĀ eliminated after detecting that they contained theĀ ā€˜Jokerā€™ virusĀ are:

But there is a warning that moreĀ apps are affectedĀ and, therefore, millions of users who do not know that they are already victims of this cyber fraud.

Zscaler cited and made public the names of 16 other apps that, according to their analysis, also contain this malicious code:

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