Google Play recently removed 17 apps identified by security company Zscaler to contain malicious adware code. These apps bombard users with unwanted advertisements and collect marketing-type data about them. If you’re one of the thousands of users worldwide who downloaded at least one of these apps, here’s a quick guide to finding and uninstalling them.

Sneaky adware apps

These potentially malicious apps are disguised as harmless system or utility apps. They pose as image editors, photo or document scanners, and even messenger apps. Their names even resemble those of legitimate system apps, chosen for the express purpose of tricking Android users into installing them onto their devices. These apps are:

1. All Good PDF Scanner
2. Blue Scanner
3. Care Message
4. Desire Translate
5. Direct Messenger
6. Hummingbird PDF Converter – Photo to PDF
7. Meticulous Scanner
8. Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
9. One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional Translator
10. Paper Doc Scanner
11. Part Message
12. Powerful Cleaner
13. Private SMS
14. Style Photo Collage
15. Talent Photo Editor – Blur focus
16. Tangram App Lock
17. Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons

How to remove these adware apps

It’s important that you immediately remove these apps from your device to prevent them from exposing you to all kinds of IT security threats, like man-in-the-middle attacks. One way to do this is to use an anti-malware app that scans and automatically removes malicious software from your device. You can also check your phone or tablet’s app permissions to see if any questionable apps have permission to access your text messages, contact list, etc., and manually uninstall the dubious apps.

However, some apps are harder to detect because they display two different sets of names and icons — one on your device’s Settings app and another when they’re actually running. This makes it more difficult to identify and uninstall the malicious apps on your device, which is exactly what the developers want.

On the other hand, some apps appear on your app tray, but launching one triggers a message that says the app is incompatible with your device. You will then be redirected to a random page on Google Play. And when you return to your app tray, you’ll find that the app’s icon has disappeared.

If there’s no icon, how can you uninstall the app? Andrew Brandt, a researcher at Sophos, says deleting adware apps will require a little bit of digging on your part, as there’s no icon that you can click and drag to the top of the screen and into the trash.

To do this, you have to first identify the adware apps. Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications. This will direct you to a page that displays the most recently opened apps on your device. Next, check if any of those apps have the generic greenish-blue Android icon and/or have generic-sounding names such as Back Up, Update, and the like. If they do, they’re likely adware. Finally, tap the icon and then select Force Stop > Uninstall. Note that a legit system or utility app will have a Disable option instead of an Uninstall option.

There may be similar apps that are yet to be identified and are likely to be made available on Google Play in the future. The key takeaway here is to be mindful of what you download, even if it’s from Google Play or other official platforms. Check out the reviews — the reported adware apps got poor reviews from users who complained about getting a lot of pop-up ads.

Remember that malware can be hiding in even the most innocuous apps, and downloading them gives bad actors the chance to access any confidential information on your device. For advice on how to keep your Android devices safe from adware and other malicious malware, give us a call today.

The post Uninstall these sneaky Android adware apps now appeared first on TechSolutions, Inc..

Choosing an app for your Android tablet can be daunting. Whether you’re looking for a document reader app or a new web browser, there are many options out there that offer similar features. So how do you know which ones are the best fit for your device? We’ve compiled a list of powerful applications that will help you make the most of your Android tablet. Check them out and save yourself from browsing through hundreds of thousands of apps in the store.

Adobe apps

Adobe offers a suite of apps for Android tablets, including the Acrobat Reader, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Clip, AIR, and so much more. These are all very useful for processing images, opening documents, and editing files. If you happen to be a user, most of the Adobe apps also work well with Creative Cloud.

Flipboard

Flipboard is a popular news application that uses a magazine-style interface. This app allows you to stay up-to-date with news and topics you’re interested in. You can easily customize your news digest from your favorite sources, such as Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, The New York Times, and more.

Google Drive

With Google Drive, you gain access to a suite of powerful apps including Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Keep and much more. Google Drive offers 15GB of free storage, which you can use to store all kinds of digital files and access them from anywhere.

Kindle

There are tons of ebook reader apps out there, but few can measure up to Amazon’s Kindle app. Kindle provides you with more than a million ebooks to download and read on your Android device. You can also manually download different books in various formats, and then transfer them to an external storage device.

CamScanner

This nifty application allows you to use your Android tablet’s camera to scan documents such as invoices, forms, and receipts, and have them exported in PDF format. You can store, sync, and collaborate on these documents across any number of web-enabled devices. The app also comes with support for fax sending, OCR, printing, and more.

LastPass

We get it – you have numerous accounts for social networks, apps and websites, and memorizing all of your passwords can be confusing. LastPass is a password management application that will securely store your passwords, and automatically log you into various apps and websites. With LastPass, you don’t have to remember every password you use.

Zedge

Zedge is a search engine for downloading ringtones, notification sounds, wallpapers, and themes. It is a good place to start if you’re looking to customize the look and feel of your device in order to give it a personal touch. It’s super popular among Android tablet users, with millions of freebies available and a simple user interface.

These applications are far from being a comprehensive list, but they can help optimize the performance of your device. If you want to learn how to use Android tablets to boost your business’s efficiency, give us a call today.

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