Squid Game, Netflix’s current most popular and widely streamed series is now catching up with the hot trend as well. From Halloween inspired nail art to Halloween costumes and now even with the smartphone apps, the Squid Game fever is not getting over any time soon, at least for now.
The cybercriminals, however, are up to something else. A cybersecurity firm has recently flagged that the app for Squid Game wallpapers is being used to spread malware in phone devices. Taking the issue into cognizance, the Google Play Store immediately took down the app. A cybersecurity researcher Lukas Stefanko (Malware Researcher at ESET), discovered that the app ‘Squid Wallpaper 4K HD’ contains a notorious ‘Joker’ malware which is being used to infect Android devices.
Squid Game themed Android Joker
1) downloads and executes native lib
2) native lib downloads and executes apk payloadRunning this app on device might result in malicious ad-fraud and/or unwanted SMS subscription actionshttps://t.co/PTDtPlUkBy pic.twitter.com/AFs8gkEuab
— Lukas Stefanko (@LukasStefanko) October 19, 2021
The Joker malware is not new and has been around for some time now. It has been spotted on Google Play Store earlier as well. This is, however, the first instance when action has been taken against Squid Game-based apps.
As per researcher’s post, running Squid Game themed Android Joker on the device “might result in malicious ad-fraud and/or unwanted SMS subscription actions”. The app had been installed more than 5,000 times before it was taken down from Google Play Store. The post further read, “the app could download and execute native libraries and even execute APK payloads, the security researcher noted in his post. This could be used to install the Joker malware on devices.”
What if you have already downloaded the app?
The app for now has been removed from the Play Store. But the users who still have this malware app installed but immediately uninstall it from their devices. Stefanko, in another related post, stated, “there are more than 200 apps based on Squid Game available on Google Play. The most downloaded out of these apps reached one million downloads within 10 days.” ““Seems like a great opportunity to make money on in-app ads from one of the most popular TV shows without an official game,” he further wrote.
Over 200 #SquidGame related apps are available on Google Play
Seems like a great opportunity to make money on in-app ads from one of the most popular TV show without official game.
The most downloaded of them reached 1M installs in 10 days. Its game play is not that well handled pic.twitter.com/gCOYXXaVHY— Lukas Stefanko (@LukasStefanko) October 19, 2021
