According to ZDNet's report, Google removed 813 creepware which were being used by hackers to directly or indirectly harass and stalk individuals from the Google Play Store.
A group of academics studying stalkerware-like apps reported the incident. And according to them, CreepRank was installed in more than 50 million Android devices around the world.
813 Creepware Used To Stalk And Harrass People Directly Were Removed By Google From Android Play StoreNahel Abdul Hadi on Unsplash
The Northern UK Blog explained that creepware is a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that allows hackers to access devices from a distance, controlling it. The most common scenario will be using the camera of a computer or mobile phone to listen and watch an individual from afar. It's a type of spyware that allows cybercriminals to spy on the victim or acquire a recorded material to be used for illegal purposes.
There are different versions of creepware that are used by hackers to download files, monitor online activity, steal personal files, log passwords, and make onscreen messages to threaten the computer's owner. The stolen personal information can be used for blackmail, with them saying the stolen footage of the individual will be broadcast or shared online.
813 Creepware used to stalk and harass people directly were removed by Google from the Play Store
According to ZDNet, "The Many Kinds of Creepware Used for Interpersonal Attacks," the research behind last year's report, has now been published online this month. The study analyzed the creepware apps which were led by academics from the NortonLifeLock, formerly known as Symantec and the New York University.
813 Creepware Used To Stalk And Harrass People Directly Were Removed By Google From Android Play StoreElena G on Unsplash
All though creepware don't possess the full features of a stalkerware or spyware product, it can still be used to harass, stalk, defraud, or threaten an individual indirectly or directly. The team of researchers who conducted the study developed CreepRank, an algorithm that assigns a creep score to each, identifying creepware-like behavior inside mobile apps.
CreepRank algorithm can identify apps with features that can be abused to spoof another user's identity in IM/SMS chats, extract SMS messages from a device, hide other apps, launch denial-of-service attacks (IM/SMS bombs, etc.), track location, control access to other apps, and more. After applying it on app data sets from 2017 to 2019, 1,095 creepware apps were found, accounting for more than one million installs across the real-world devices.
