It's already been a rough month for Android users. Last week, smartphone and tablet owners were warned about dozens of apps that were capable of generating money for criminals using adware, while others were discovered to be able to reinstall themselves, prompting users to delete the harmful apps.
And now it seems that even worse news is coming. VPNpro has discovered 10 antivirus solutions available on the Google Play Storethat are full of permissions, malware , and spywareto quietly monitor the things you do on your smartphone behind your back.
The worrying thing is that these malicious antivirus apps are extremely popular, amassing a total of 1.9 billion downloads worldwide.
Five other apps, originally included in the VPNpro investigation and found to have the same issues, have recently been removed from the Play Store. Downloads for these apps totaled over 500 million, the security firm confirmed.
Here is the full list of 15 free antivirus apps that VPNpro discovered with “dangerous permissions”
Security Master – Antivirus, VPN, AppLock, Booster | 500 million installs
- Virus Cleaner, Antivirus, Cleaner (MAX Security) | 50 million installs
- Antivirus Free 2019 – Scan & Remove Virus, Cleaner | 10 million installs
- 360 Security – Free Antivirus, Booster, Cleaner | 100 million installs
- Virus Cleaner 2019 – Antivirus, Cleaner & Booster | 50 million installs
- Super Phone Cleaner: Virus Cleaner, Phone Cleaner | 50 million installs
- 360 Security Lite – Booster, Cleaner, AppLock | 50 million installs
- Super Cleaner – Antivirus, Booster, Phone Cleaner | 100 million installs
- Clean Master – Antivirus, Applock & Cleaner | 1 billion installs
- Super Security – Antivirus, Booster & AppLock | 10 million installs
- Antivirus Free – Virus Cleaner | 50 million installs
- Antivirus Free 2019 – Virus Cleaner | 1 million installs
- Android Antivirus | 1 million installs
- Antivirus & Virus Cleaner | 10 million installs
- Antivirus Mobile – Cleaner, Phone Virus Scanner
It's also worth noting that six of these apps are based in China , where the strict data protection laws found in the US and especially the European Union are nowhere to be found. In fact, it's notoriously lax, and government interference with these kinds of tech companies is commonplace.
