Google has taken down the famous image scanning application from its application store after a report surfaced that it contained a virus.
Having over 100 million downloads, the free version of CamScanner application for Android was found containing malicious code. The code was first discovered by researchers from famous cybersecurity company, Kaspersky, which then shared the details with Google prompting it to take down the application. According to the report, the versions of the application from June were found containing a “Trojan Dropper” code.
“Kaspersky products detect this module as Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Necro.n, which we have observed in some apps preinstalled on Chinese smartphones. As the name suggests, the module is a Trojan Dropper. That means the module extracts and runs another malicious module from an encrypted file included in the app’s resources. This “dropped” malware, in turn, is a Trojan Downloader that downloads more malicious modules depending on what its creators are up to at the moment,” the Kaspersky report noted.
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The malware was found on 6 of the application releases from June 16 and July 25, Android Police reports. The recent versions of the applications were reportedly found free from the code, but Google has removed the application from its store regardless. It would be worth mentioning here that the paid version of the application didn’t contain the malicious code and the application could still be found on the Play Store.
In a statement issued to the public, CamScanner mentioned a third party advertising entity was responsible for the malicious code and that the users can download the application from their website.
ATTENTION, ALL ANDROID USERS! To address your recent concerns, we are here to make the following statement and you may download the new version: https://t.co/79tt0IrMdw pic.twitter.com/Er1bE1qcuB
— CamScanner (@CamScanner) August 28, 2019
Feature Image Via Mobile Village
