New malware Judy found in over 41 apps on Google Play Store

A new malware called 'Judy' has been found in more than 41 apps on the Google Play Store. The malware had infected between 8.5 million to 36.5 million users, according to a report from security research firm Check Point, which discovered the malware. Check Point alerted Google, which had started removing the infected apps from the Play Store.

However, 'Judy Malware' infected apps had notched over 4.5 million to 18.5 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Check Point said in a blog post that, Judy Malware was ''auto-clicking adware,'' and the apps were developed by a company based in South Korea.

According to the researchers, the company's name was Kiniwini, which was mentioned on the Google Play Store as ENISTUDIO corp. The firm develops apps for Android, iOS. The auto-clicking adware basically used the infected devices to create false clicks on ads, to generate revenue for the people behind this.

Check Point noted in the blog post, ''The malicious apps reached an astonishing spread between 4.5 million and 18.5 million downloads. Some of the apps we discovered resided on Google Play for several years, but all were recently updated.''

The researchers had also identified other apps on the Google Play Store, which contained the malware, which were developed by other companies.

According to Checkpoint, Judy attacked most devices in the form of simple fashion and cooking games. The malware went unnoticed as the infected payload was downloaded externally from a non-Google server, after the installation of the applications. On installation the software used the infected phone to click on certain Google Ads to increase the revenue of the attacker.

According to commentators, though the app had made it to over 36.5 million android devices, so far there had been no evidence of any data being compromised on the infected devices.