Beware of 'Joker' spyware! If you have Android smartphone, remove these 24 apps

Android smartphone users have been hit by a new malware - Joker. Aleksejs Kuprins, a security researcher at cybersecurity threat intelligence specialists CSIS Security Group, said 'Joker' spyware -- which derives its name from one of the command-and-control servers found by CSIS researchers -- has been detected in 24 apps that have collectively been installed over 472,000 times. The spyware claims to have the ability to infect a device and steals SMS, contact information, and other sensitive data from your smartphone. To add to the worry, the spyware also signed users up for premium subscriptions without their consent. And yes, it is very much targetting Indian users too.

According to Kuprins, the malware only attacks targeted countries. Unfortunately, India finds a place in the list of 37 countries that have been attacked by this spyware. Majority of the infected apps contain a list of Mobile Country Codes (MCC) and the victim is one who is using SIM card from one of these countries in order to receive the second stage payload. "The majority of the discovered apps target the EU and Asian countries, however, some apps allow for any country to join. Furthermore, most of the discovered apps have an additional check, which will make sure that the payload won’t execute when running within the US or Canada," Kuprins said, in a blog post.

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Even though all these apps have been removed from Google Play Store, there is a chance that you might have some of them on your phone. So, it is advised to remove them as early as possible. Here is the full list of infected apps -

Beach Camera 4.2
Mini Camera 1.0.2
Certain Wallpaper 1.02
Reward Clean 1.1.6
Age Face 1.1.2
Altar Message 1.5
Soby Camera 1.0.1
Declare Message 10.02
Display Camera 1.02
Rapid Face Scanner 10.02
Leaf Face Scanner 1.0.3
Board Picture editing 1.1.2
Cute Camera 1.04
Dazzle Wallpaper 1.0.1
Spark Wallpaper 1.1.11
Climate SMS 3.5
Great VPN 2.0
Humour Camera 1.1.5
Print Plant scan
Advocate Wallpaper 1.1.9
Ruddy SMS Mod
Ignite Clean 7.3
Antivirus Security - Security Scan,App Lock
Collate Face Scanner

The full list of 37 targeted countries includes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Argentina, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.