On Monday, Google announced it had flagged several apps created by the Chinese e-commerce giant as malware, warned users who installed them, and suspended the company’s official apps.
In recent weeks, multiple Chinese security researchers have accused the fast-growing e-commerce, which boasts nearly 800 million active users, of creating an app for Android containing malware designed to spy on its users. has blamed Pinduoduo, the giant of
Referring to the app not on Google Play, Google spokesperson Ed Fernandez said, “An off-play version of this app that was found to contain malware was applied via Google Play Protect.” I’m here.
Effectively, Google has set up Android’s security mechanism, Google Play Protect, to prevent users from installing these malicious apps, warn users who have already installed them, and prevent the app from installing. prompts you to uninstall the
Fernandez added that Google has suspended Pinduoduo’s official app on the Play Store “due to security concerns while the investigation continues.”
The security researcher, who requested anonymity, alerted TechCrunch of the claims against the app, saying it had also analyzed the app and found the app was exploiting several zero-days to hack users.
Pinduoduo did not respond to a request for comment.
In a test, TechCrunch installed one of the suspected malicious apps and displayed a Google message warning that the app was malicious.
It’s important to note that Google Play is not available in China. According to an anonymous security researcher, the malicious apps existed in custom his app stores of Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi phone makers.
None of these companies responded to requests for comment.
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