“We cannot be sure if the developer has other apps out there, but because they seem to operate under different names, it is possible that other apps exist under other names,” Chrysaidos said in an email to Fortune.
What about iPhone users?Ĭhrysaidos says it’s possible the threat hasn’t been fully eliminated from Google’s app store. The affected apps had been downloaded over 100 million times. In 2017, Google removed over 500 apps after security company Lookout revealed that apps using a certain development tool meant for ads contained spyware. The company didn’t respond to a question about how these apps it just banned got into the Play Store in the first place.ĭespite the promised app reviews, bad software has fallen through the Play Store’s cracks in the past. In a response to Fortune, Google provided its policy for malicious apps. In this case, the apps somehow slipped through the cracks. Only after does the company make the apps in its app store.
Google says it uses automation, plus “a team of experts” to review apps that are submitted to make sure that the apps meet the company’s standards for privacy.
