Squid Game is considered Netflix’s biggest show ever and it has already been watched by over 142 million users worldwide. This Korean series has already earned over $900 million. After the series became popular, a bunch of unofficial Squid Game apps appeared on Google Play Store. One of these Squid Game apps was discovered with malware.
ESET malware researcher Lukas Stefanko found that the malicious Squid Game app had Joker malware. The app leads to malicious ad fraud and unwanted SMS subscriptions.
The malicious app is ‘Squid Game Wallpaper’ by XEXO studios. The app was able to download and execute native libraries on the target device. These native libraries can further download and execute APK payload on the target device.
After being reported, Google removed the app from the Play Store. The app only had over 5,000 downloads. If you also downloaded one of these Squid Game apps, you should check if your app is safe.
Joker malware has been found in several apps since 2017. Google also set up a dedicated team to find out apps with Joker malware and claims to remove more than 1,800 infected Android apps from the Play Store. Still, the malware manages to enter into the play store app.
If you are an Android user and want to be safe, you should stop downloading apps from an untrusted sources.
