Tag Archives: Google Play

Are Freemium apps worth the price?

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Freemium is a mashup of the words ‘free’ and ‘premium’. It is well-know that both Apple and Google revenues from their app stores come mostly from freemium apps.  It can be an application like Avast Mobile Security, a game, or any service provided free of charge. The developers make money when a customer pays for upgrades or additional […]

Are Freemium apps worth the price?

      No Comments on Are Freemium apps worth the price?

Freemium is a mashup of the words ‘free’ and ‘premium’. It is well-know that both Apple and Google revenues from their app stores come mostly from freemium apps.  It can be an application like Avast Mobile Security, a game, or any service provided free of charge. The developers make money when a customer pays for upgrades or additional […]

Do third-party app stores pose a threat to mobile security?

Over time, we’ve noticed the presence of some fairly heated user debates disputing the necessity of security or antivirus apps for Android devices. This could have been sparked by our recent post which argues that you can’t always rely on the security of Google Play or because of the myth that antivirus companies create viruses to sell more […]

Porn clicker app slipped into Google Play imitating popular Dubsmash app

Everyone from celebrities like Lena Dunham to Hugh Jackman are using the (currently) seventh most popular app available on Google Play: Dubsmash. Dubsmash is an app with more than 10 million Google Play installations that lets users choose a sound, record a video to go along with the sound and send their dub to their […]

Avast Mobile Security: What’s not to love?

Mobile is attractive to cybercrooks Our mobile phones are fantastic little devices — these days, they’re as powerful and can accomplish nearly all the things a regular computer can. While this is convenient for us, it also gives cybercrooks a relatively easy in-road to your private data and financial information. As 2015 rolls along, consumers […]

Are you as smart as your smartphone?

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Not too many years ago we had phones that only made calls. Smartphones are the newest generation of phones that bring a lot of possibilities right to our fingers through the apps specifically designed for them. We all got used to the Windows (or Mac) world, but now we are witnessing a revolution from “standard” […]

Apps on Google Play Pose As Games and Infect Millions of Users with Adware

A couple of days ago, a user posted a comment on our forum regarding apps harboring adware that can be found on Google Play. This didn’t seem like anything spectacular at the beginning, but once I took a closer look it turned out that this malware was a bit bigger than I initially thought. First […]

Mobile advertising firms spread malware by posing as official Google Play apps

As a malware analyst, I find new pieces of malware day in and day out. In fact, I see so many new malware samples that it’s difficult for me to determine which pieces would be really interesting for the public. Today, however, I found something that immediately caught my attention and that I thought would […]

Look-alike Avast Online Security extension deceives users on Google Play

We have been recently notified about a suspicious browser extension for Google Chrome. Suspicious because it was called “Avast Free Antivirus 2014″, while our browser extension is called Avast Online Security. You can see the fake extension along with our official ones in Chrome Web Store printscreen below. The extension looks professional featuring printscreens of […]

Google Play Store changes opens door to cybercrooks

Last week, Google upgraded the Android app section of its store and introduced a new way for users to manage permissions. Google claims it will be easier  for users to understand and that users will pay more attention to app permissions. The new interface has a cleaner look and the common user can now install apps more quickly. […]