Android: Viruses found in file manager apps that were in the Play Store   

And they targeted users’ bank details

As the well-known website in the field of cyber security Bleeping Computer reports, some new malicious applications managed to pass the security measures and uploaded to Google Play , infecting Android devices with the Sharkbot trojan.

The apps in question looked like innocent file managers at first glance, hiding the malicious code during installation to fool Google. However, once the app was running, the virus was downloaded from a remote source on the internet and targeted any banking apps that might be installed on the user’s mobile phone to extort information and, by extension, money.

More specifically, the dangerous Sharkbot malware displayed fake login forms on top of normal banking app logins. So when a user tried to log into their bank using one of these fake forms, their details were sent to the crooks. In fact, malware is constantly evolving and has appeared on the Play Store in various forms from time to time.

The first malicious app is Victor Soft Ice LLC’s ‘X-File Manager’ (com.victorsoftice.llc), which was downloaded 10,000 times via Google Play before Google removed it. The second malicious application that installs the trojan is Julia Soft Io LLC’s ‘FileVoyager’ (com.potsepko9.FileManagerApp), which was downloaded 5,000 times via Google Play. Finally, another app discovered to load Sharkbot is ‘LiteCleaner M’ (com.ltdevelopergroups.litecleaner.m), which garnered 1,000 downloads before being pulled from the Play Store.

If for some reason you have some of these applications installed, it would be a good idea to delete them immediately.