There is an exponential increase of people using digital devices in recent time. After COVID-19 outbreak Digital devices for online adoption are even more rapid. However, this help the unknown hand to absorb the data for one's device and to make a quick buck.

Recently, Google removed 'The Great Suspender' a popular chrome extension tool  used  by millions of users, from chrome webstore. As, it was containing malware.  Google, even removed the 'Barcode Scanner' from google play store. When the Barcode app is open to scan the code in the browser, ads pop-up unauthorisedly and redirects to third-party sites. Revenue is generated by the clicks.

A cyber researcher (Nathan Collier) at Malwarebytes revealed that,barcode scanner includes  the ad software SDK (software development kit) "Android/Trojan.hiddenAds.AdQR'. This app was developed by Lovebirds Ltd. Nearly 1 million users are using the Barcode scanner app on android phones.

The big tech companies (Apple and Google) should take up the responsibility to scale up the security to curb the malware entering the iOs and Android.

By: Arun KodandaRama