Minecraft clones for Android infected 35 million devices

According to a report by antivirus company McAfee, several Minecraft-like game apps for Android hide adware in the background. In total, the company found 38 games containing the “HiddenAds” adware that loaded hidden ads in the background and as users played.

Infected apps were downloaded approx. 35 million Android users worldwide, mainly in the United States, Canada, South Korea, and Brazil. The games mimicked the gameplay and style of Minecraft, a game with 140 million monthly active players.

The malicious file is used to run ads in the background and generate revenue through advertising, without the app user noticing. Also, adware can cause overheating, increased network data usage, and increased battery consumption.

Adware in the Google Play Store

After finding games with adware, the McAfee team reported the problem to Google and all the apps in question were removed from the Play Store. When analyzing the games’ network traffic, experts noticed that in addition to the very similar name of each app, most of them share similar structures. Therefore, it is possible that the same author created some of these applications.

The best ‘Minecraft style’ games infected with adware

• Block Box Master Diamond – 10 million downloads
• Craft Sword Mini Fun – 5 million downloads
• Block Box Skyland Sword – 5 million downloads
• Craft Monster Crazy Sword – 5 million downloads
• Block Pro Forrest Diamond – 1 million downloads
• Block Game Skyland Forrest – 1 million downloads
• Block Rainbow Sword Dragon – 1 million downloads
• Craft Rainbow Mini Builder – 1 million downloads
• Block Forrest Tree Crazy – 1 million downloads

“First, we recommend that users thoroughly review user reviews before downloading apps from the store. Users should also install security software on their devices and keep them up to date,” McAfee says.

While an adware is not considered a major threat, it can be a privacy, security issue and even degrade the performance of the mobile phone.