Google removes CamScanner app from Play Store due to containing malware

CamScanner

Google removes CamScanner app from Play Store due to containing malware.

Google has finally decided to remove CamScanner app from Play Store due to contain malware. The popular document scanning application has been found malware affected, noted by the cyber security firm Kaspersky.


The CamScanner app, which can create PDF documents, was published on the Play Store by Shanghai-based CC Intelligence, and has over 100 million downloads on Google Play Store since it's launch back in 2010.


The cyber security firm Kaspersky discovered that an advertising library in CamScanner app that contains a ‘malicious dropper component’.


The security researchers at Kaspersky Lab were able to determine that the CamScanner was carrying a malicious module dubbed Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Necro.n, which was serving intrusive ads to users.


Kaspersky researchers Igor Golovin and Anton Kivva said,

“The popular CamScanner, the phone PDF creator app, caught our attention. The developers position it as a solution for scanning and managing digitized documents, but negative user reviews that have been left over the past month have indicated the presence of unwanted features.”

The malware has been found only on the Android version of CamScanner app.


The researchers team reported to Google about the findings and the app was promptly removed from the Google app platform.


The researchers revealed,

“The ‘Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Necro.na’ functions carry out the main task of the malware: to download and launch a payload from malicious servers. As a result, the owners of the module can use an infected device to their benefit in any way they see fit, from showing the victim intrusive advertising to stealing money from their mobile account by charging paid subscriptions.”

The researchers also note that the app is called by different names such as Phone PDF Creator and CamScanner-Scanner.


CamScanner wrote in its statement,

"We have removed all the ads SDKs not certified by Google Play."

CamScanner tweeted,

The free version of CamScanner app is currently unavailable on the Google Play Store, while the paid version advice users to update the app to the latest version as soon as possible.


CamScanner also confirmed that it's developing a new updated build of the application for the Android app store and is also providing a direct installation from its official website.




Source