Annoying, suddenly you get all kinds of ads on your mobile. How do you avoid downloading malicious apps?
The program ‘Scammed?’ warns against developer LavaBird LTD’s ‘Barcode Scanner’ app. This app had been popular for years, but after an update in December, it had suddenly become rogue.
In the Google Play Store (Android) or the Apple App Store (iPhone) you can download apps: WhatsApp, Facebook, games. Some cost money, others are free, often with a different revenue model. Before installing the app, check what the app requests access to. Ask yourself: what information should you disclose? And what do you think about that?
Google and Apple do check whether an app is reliable before it appears in the app store, but sometimes people slip through it. Apple is a bit stricter, and usually only allows apps that don’t require too much access to parts of the smartphone. It also helps to read the reviews users have left with the app. Are there a lot of complaints about advertising, are there many reviews with 1 star?
Also check what other apps the developer has released. Is that a lot of different apps? Then third parties have probably asked the developer to make the app. Sometimes adware is added to make money. That is software that is made to display advertisements. They are often not developed further, and nothing is done about complaints.
Source: Malwarebytes
