It has been reported that over 43 Android applications, which are available on the Google Play Store, display ads while the mobile screen is turned off.
When the users attempt to open their home screen, they might catch a glimpse of the ad.
Though this seems to be less annoying for users, it is clearly a violation of Google Play Developer policy on how ads should be displayed.
From the user end, it might be convenient to look at lesser ads, but these apps drain the battery and consume more data.
Additionally, these ads might also pose potential risks like information leaks and a kind of clickjacking attack.
Combinedly these apps had a total of 2.5 million installations. Most of these apps belong to TV/DMB players, Music downloaders, News and Calendar categories.
Google scans every application before they are available to the users on the Play Store. These apps evaded detection and inspection by modifying the latency period of these fraudulent activities.
It might be typically several weeks before these applications begin to initiate ads which makes it difficult to detect.
Furthermore, these applications have libraries that can be modified remotely by the developer. Ads are pushed using Firebase Storage or Messaging service.
Users must take precautions before allowing “power saving” permissions and “draw over other apps” permissions for an application as they allow applications to perform discrete activities in the background.
Most of these applications have been removed from Google Play Store after they were reported to Google by McAfee researchers. It is recommended that users take into consideration these kinds of applications and check for application permissions regularly to revoke any application permission that might no longer be needed.
| Package Name | Application Name | SHA256 | Google Play Downloads |
| band.kr.com | DMB TV | f3e5aebdbd5cd94606211b04684730656e0eeb1d08f4457062e25e7f05d1c2d1 | 10,000+ |
| com.dmb.media | DMB TV | 6aaaa6f579f6a1904dcf38315607d6a5a2ca15cc78920743cf85cc4b0b892050 | 100,000+ |
| dmb.onair.media | DMB TV | a98c5170da2fdee71b699ee145bfe4bdcb586b623bbb364a93bb8bdf8dbc4537 | 10,000+ |
| easy.kr | DMB TV | 5ec8244b2b1f516fd96b0574dc044dd40076ff7aa7dadb02dfefbd92fc3774bf | 100,000+ |
| kr.dmb.onair | DMB TV | e81c0fef52065864ee5021e1d4c7c78d6a407579e1d48fc4cf5551ff0540fdb8 | 5,000+ |
| livedmb.kr | DMB TV | 33e5606983526757fef2f6c1da26474f4f9bf34e966d3c204772de45f42a6107 | 50,000+ |
| stream.kr.com | DMB TV | a13e26bce41f601a9fafdec8003c5fd14908856afbab63706b133318bc61b769 | 100+ |
| com.breakingnews.player | 뉴스 속보 | d27b8e07b7d79086af2fa805ef8d77ee51d86a02d81f2b8236febb92cb9b242d | 10,000+ |
| jowonsoft.android.calendar | 달력 | 46757b1f785f2b3cec2906a97597b7db4bfba168086b60dd6d58d5a8aef9e874 | 10,000+ |
| com.music.free.bada | 뮤직다운 | a3fe9f9b531ab6fe79ed886909f9520a0d0ae98cf11a98f061dc179800aa5931 | 100,000+ |
| com.musicdown | 뮤직다운 | 5f8eb3f86fc608f9de495ff0e65b866a78c25a9260da04ebca461784f039ba16 | 5,000+ |
| new.kr.com | 뮤직다운 | 397373c39352ef63786fe70923a58d26cdf9b23fa662f3133ebcbc0c5b837b66 | 100,000+ |
| baro.com | 바로TV | 3b4302d00e21cbf691ddb20b55b045712bad7fa71eb570dd8d3d41b8d16ce919 | 10,000+ |
| baro.live.tv | 바로TV | 760aa1a6c0d1e8e4e2d3258e197ce704994b24e8edfd48ef7558454893796ebe | 50,000+ |
| baro.onair.media | 바로TV | b83a346e18ca20ac5165bc1ce1c8807e89d05abc6a1df0adc3f1f0ad4bb5cd0c | 10,000+ |
| kr.baro.dmb | 바로TV | 84a4426b1f8ea2ddb66f12ef383a0762a011d98ff96c27a0122558babdaf0765 | 100,000+ |
| kr.live | 바로TV | cccfdf95f74add21da546a03c8ec06c7832ba11091c6d491b0aadaf0e2e57bcc | 1,000+ |
| newlive.com | 바로TV | c76af429fabcfd73066302eeb9dd1235fd181583e6ee9ee9015952e20b4f65bf | 50,000+ |
| onair.baro.media | 바로TV | 6c61059da2ae3a8d130c50295370baad13866d7e5dc847f620ad171cc01a39e9 | 10,000+ |
| freemusic.ringtone.player | 벨소리 무료다운 | 75c74e204d5695c75209b74b10b3469babec1f7ef84c7a7facb5b5e91be0ae3e | 100,000+ |
| com.app.allplayer | 실시간 TV | 8d881890cfa071f49301cfe9add6442d633c01935811b6caced813de5c6c6534 | 50,000+ |
| com.onair.shop | 실시간 TV | 1501dd8267240b0db0ba00e7bde647733230383d6b67678fc6f0c7f3962bd0d3 | 50,000+ |
| eight.krdmb.onair | 실시간 TV | bbd6ddbfee7482fe3fe8b5d96f3be85e09352711a36cd8cf88cfdeaf6ff90c79 | 10,000+ |
| free.kr | 실시간 TV | 5f864aa88de07a10045849a7906f616d079eef94cd463e40036760f712361f79 | 10,000+ |
| kr.dmb.nine | 실시간 TV | ea49ad38dd7500a6ac12613afe705eb1a4bcab5bcd77ef24f2b9a480a34e4f46 | 100,000+ |
| kr.live.com | 실시간 TV | f09cff8a05a92ddf388e56ecd66644bf88d826c5b2a4419f371721429c1359a7 | 10,000+ |
| kr.live.onair | 실시간 TV | e8d2068d086d376f1b78d9e510a873ba1abd59703c2267224aa58d3fca2cacbd | 100,000+ |
| kr.live.tv | 실시간 TV | 1b64283e5d7e91cae91643a7dcdde74a188ea8bde1cf745159aac76a3417346e | 50,000+ |
| kr.media.onair | 실시간 TV | bd0ac9b7717f710e74088df480bde629e54289a61fc23bee60fd0ea560d39952 | 100,000+ |
| kr.onair.media | 실시간 TV | d7dd4766043d4f7f640c7c3fabd08b1a7ccbb93eba88cf766a0de008a569ae4d | 1,000+ |
| live.kr.onair | 실시간 TV | b84b22bc0146f48982105945bbab233fc21306f0f95503a1f2f578c1149d7e46 | 10,000+ |
| live.play.com | 실시간 TV | 516032d21edc2ef4fef389d999df76603538d1bbd9d357a995e3ce4f274a9922 | 50,000+ |
| new.com | 실시간 TV | 5d07a113ce389e430bab70a5409f5d7ca261bcdb47e4d8047ae7f3507f044b08 | 50,000+ |
| newlive.kr | 실시간 TV | afc8c1c6f74abfadd8b0490b454eebd7f68c7706a748e4f67acb127ce9772cdb | 100,000+ |
| onair.best | 실시간 TV | 6234eadfe70231972a4c05ff91be016f7c8af1a8b080de0085de046954c9e8e7 | 50,000+ |
| com.m.music.free | 음악다운 | ded860430c581628ea5ca81a2f0f0a485cf2eeb9feafe5c6859b9ecc54a964b2 | 500,000+ |
| good.kr.com | 음악다운 | bede67693a6c9a51889f949a83ff601b1105c17c0ca5904906373750b3802e91 | 100,000+ |
| new.music.com | 음악다운 | fee6cc8b606cf31e55d85a7f0bf7751e700156ce5f7376348e3357d3b4ec0957 | 1,000+ |
| play.com.apps | 음악다운 | b2c1caab0e09b4e99d5d5fd403c506d93497ddb2de3e32931237550dbdbe7f06 | 100,000+ |
| com.alltrot.player | 트로트 노래모음 | 469792f4b9e4320faf0746f09ebbcd8b7cd698a04eef12112d1db03b426ff70c | 50,000+ |
| com.trotmusic.player | 트로트 노래모음 | 879014bc1e71d7d14265e57c46c2b26537a81020cc105a030f281b1cc43aeb77 | 5,000+ |
| best.kr.com | 파도 MP3 | f2bbe087c3b4902a199710a022adf8b57fd927acac0895ab85cfd3e61c376ea5 | 100,000+ |
| com.pado.music.mp3 | 파도 MP3 | 9c84c91f28eadd0a93ef055809ca3bceb10a283955c9403ef1a39373139d59f2 | 100,000+ |
Source: McAfee
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