Android app with 100 million users contained malware

[Jamie McKane]

Android app with 100 million users contained malware

Google has pulled the popular CamScanner app from its Play Store after it was discovered that it was spreading malware.

Kaspersky discovered that the app - which was installed more than 100 million times - contained an advertising library with a malicious dropper component.

 

[Suspect99]

Hmm I've got this on my phone.

I also just got these ads recently on my Google calendar. Wonder if it's related

 

[SykomantiS]

Well this is not so cool...

 

[SirFooK'nG]

Well, that sucks, I've had the full version for years....

 

[dannyjmp]

What does the developers have to say about this. I'm also'a using the full version

 

[Jovs]

I also got an ad on my calendar recently but don't have that software...

The calendar ads / spam is a new thing, you can prevent it by changing your Google Calendar event settings: Spammers are invading your Google Calendar. Here's how to stop them

 

[backstreetboy]

The calendar ads / spam is a new thing, you can prevent it by changing you Google Calendar event settings: Spammers are invading your Google Calendar. Here's how to stop them

Not new at all...

How to stop receiving spam events in your Google Calendar

Here's how you can stop spam events like "iPhone Max is here" from appearing in your Google Calendar on Android and the web.

9to5google.com

While the issue of Google Calendar spam is blossoming right now, the exploits behind it have been known by Google since at least 2017. The core of the issue is that features that are supposed to help you — such as automatically importing events from Gmail to your Google Calendar — are being abused by spammers to fill up your calendar with junk.

 

[Lupus]

I've been using Photoscan which does the same thing.

 

[Fiela]

Fudge, uninstalling now. Will use Microsoft Lens or Google PhotoScan. Any other recommendations?

 

[backstreetboy]

Fudge, uninstalling now. Will use Microsoft Lens or Google PhotoScan. Any other recommendations?

https://f-droid.org/app/com.todobom.opennotescanner open source ftw!

 

[garyc]

Fudge, uninstalling now. Will use Microsoft Lens or Google PhotoScan. Any other recommendations?

After trying several also ended up with those two.

 

[Kloofvreter]

Google can map the world, but have a tough time vetting apps.

 

[Gudnews]

The report seems to imply it's the new version with issues, how about my 2 year old cracked version?

 

[kianm]

The calendar integration is such a useful thing, pity scammers are always looking for exploits

 

[kianm]

The report seems to imply it's the new version with issues, how about my 2 year old cracked version?

Probably not affected, you know how these "updates" are there to bring us new "features" to improve the ux

 

[onlinepaul]

Fudge, uninstalling now. Will use Microsoft Lens or Google PhotoScan. Any other recommendations?

They're nowhere near as good as CamScanner. Damn! I'm going to firewall CamScanner until a clean one is out. Very disappointing.

I imagine the licensed version would also be affected as it's the same APK? You just have a separate license you download which tells the main app you're licensed.

 

[backstreetboy]

They're nowhere near as good as CamScanner. Damn! I'm going to firewall CamScanner until a clean one is out. Very disappointing.

I imagine the licensed version would also be affected as it's the same APK? You just have a separate license you download which tells the main app you're licensed.

The last versions didn't have the malware. See here https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/08/28/camscanner-play-store-malware/.

 

[onlinepaul]

The last versions didn't have the malware. See here https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/08/28/camscanner-play-store-malware/.

Thanks. The minute I find something comparable to CamScanner I'll be switching. I really like their options to enhance the images after scanning.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Why wouldn't you just use Google drive for this? Seems like this was just a document scanner app no?

 

[Suspect99]

Why wouldn't you just use Google drive for this? Seems like this was just a document scanner app no?

The interface was nice. You could take a pic and then crop it very nicely with their zoom function. Then their "magic colour" option would remove glare and shadows from the scan and make it look like a proper document.

And then you can save to JPEG or PDF in one click. It was just easy to use