The Security firm Check Point has discovered a malicious code in some 60 game apps in the Google Play Store, some of which were children’s games.
The malicious code, named AdultSwine, also attempts to make users register to premium services at the user’s expense.
Children can thus be exposed to inappropriate content, as the ads appear in game titles aimed at kids such as “Drawing Lessons Lego Ninjago.” In such cases, children click directly on the link without any second thoughts about the content.
According to the report by Check Point, while this malicious link is in some cases just an advertisement, it could also lead to whatever social engineering scheme the hacker has in mind.
The security firm was able to provide a list of games infected with this malicious code and they have now been removed from the Google Play Store. However, the security firm warns that this malicious activity might not end here.
Upon investigation, Google said that none of the malicious apps were part of its Family collection, nor were the ads from Google.
“We’ve removed the apps from Play, disabled the developers’ accounts, and will continue to show strong warnings to anyone that has installed them. We appreciate Check Point’s work to help keep users safe,” a spokesperson for Google was reported by the publication The Next Web, as saying.
