Again... The Joker Malware appears in Google Play

The Joker virus seems to be occurring for the second time these years in just a few months. This virus hits Android applications and hides in them, the ones you download from Google Play Store. Recently it has resurfaced and is causing problems again. 

The media has stated that the Pradeo security company has noticed that Joker has occurred again after being active for at least 2 years in an Android application that's called Color Message which was downloaded 500 thousand times from Google Play Store.

And the official company's statement was: "A mobile application called Color Message infected with Joker malware is currently available for download on Google Play and has been installed by more than half a million users. The app appears to be making connections to Russian servers." 

The company added on it'd official social media page: "Joker as Fleeceware, whose main activity is to simulate clicks and intercept SMS to subscribe to unwanted paid premium services without the users' knowledge. By using as little code as possible and completely hiding it, Joker creates a very secret fingerprint that can be difficult to detect. In the past two years, malware has been found hiding in hundreds of applications." 

It has been obvious that this virus is nothing to joke with since Pradeo also said:": “Our analysis of the Color Message app through Pradeo Security Engine shows that it accesses and exits users’ contact list over the network. At the same time, the app automatically subscribes to unwanted paid services without users’ knowledge. To make removal difficult, the app has the ability to Hide its icon once you install it." 

Moreover, it also added to its statement that:"“The app’s very brief terms and conditions are hosted on a single page unbranded blog and do not reveal the extent of actions the app can perform on users’ devices. One victim even tried to contact the app developer through the comments section of the legal page, other users are directly complaining From fraud in the comments section of the app in the App Store." 

Pradeo also advised the users to delete the application immediately from their devices to avoid any risk of getting hit by the Joker virus.