[Software]Beware of this QR code reader, it has already infected millions of mobiles

[SougarLord]

 

If there is a technology that has grown with the effort of returning to normality in Spain, it has been QR codes. This coded icon, capable of taking us to any internet address, has been strongly adopted by businesses to avoid contact of objects by many people. One way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

 

However, cybercriminals have seen an open door to infect millions of mobile phones worldwide with adware. Specifically, the security company Malwarebytes has warned that the latest version of Barcode Scanner, a QR code reader, has become an unexpected Trojan.

 

Although there are already many phones that can read QR codes from the camera application itself, many other terminals need an additional app to be able to understand them. One of the best rated was Barcode Scanner, an app with more than 73,000 reviews in the Google store with a rating of 4 and a half stars out of 5. Nothing was suspicious.

 

Beware of this code reader

 

With the latest update of the app, Barcode began to show false security problems on the phone, thus inviting users to install an additional application to clean up suspected dangerous software. In reality, both the Cleaner and the code reader were the real threat to millions of mobiles around the world.

 

 

The most striking case of Barcode Scanner is not only the thousands of good reviews it had, but it has been one of the Android references for reading QR codes for years. So much so, that in November of last year it was part of the Play Pass program, the application program selected by Google and for which users pay a monthly subscription.

 

By virtue of its success, everything indicates that the app has changed hands to a new developer and, according to the specialized forum, everything indicates that this change has been key to introducing advertising malware in the latest update of the application.

 

Now, it is impossible to download the application from the Play Store because Google has deleted it, however, it is still installed on millions of phones around the world, with the risk involved. In addition, the developer who signs the latest Barcode update has another selection of applications in the Android mobile store, with which they are now looked at with a magnifying glass after the performance in the main app and the distrust it generates.