Consumer beware! The scanning app, "Barcode Scanner" by LAVABIRD LTD, which was available on Google Play, infected over 10 million consumers with the Trojan virus, Android/Trojan.HiddenAds.AdQR.
It was not until unsuspecting consumers started getting pounded by ads that it was discovered the malicous mobile tool for scanning barcodes and QR Codes had been given an update that infected over 10 million consumers with the Trojan. This was not from a new app people were installing, some users had the app installed for years, but on Dec. 4 the app seems to had been given an update, designed to circumvent security messures, that had malicious intent. The virus has been added to Malwarebytes database, and we assume others, because it was found by millions of people who were infected, even if they had virus protection, some of which were their forum users. To get more details about the app, and it's infection, read this article from Malwarebytes. If you have this app on your mobile device we recommend you remove it immediately.
The genApp Mobile Framework helps to protect consumers by creating a barrier between the consumer's device and the app they are viewing. Additionally it validates the QR Codes you scan as a genuine genApp QR Code to add additional protection against malicious content. So why would a business want to use such a platform for their needs?
Most Importantly, a genApp Mobile App tells the consumer you care about their privacy, data, and identity.
There are over 3 billion smart phone users around the world and in 2020 there was over 500 million daily app downloads.
That's a huge number of apps being downloaded by consumers. Americans now spend more time in front of their mobile device than they do in front of a television and 88% of that time is spend in apps. All this traffic and usage is expected to generate over $935 Billion by 2023. Along with this comes a higher level of risk to the consumer.
The number of malicious apps found on the market continues to grow each year. In 2019 there were over 98,000 fraudulent apps found, up from the 63,000 found in 2018 and the app stores are having a hard time keeping up with all the malicious apps being added to the market. The results can be damaging as 93% of attempted mobile transactions in 2019 were blocked as fraudulent according to a report released by Upstream.
As a way to help provide some peace of mind for consumers we have created genApp platform. A lightweight mobile framework that acts as a buffer between your device and the content you view in order to create a barrier that helps to protect your device, your data, and ultimately your identity. Business apps can be expensive to develop, market, and manage. The genApp platform provides an easy to use interface that allows you to brand to your company, manage the content, and distribute to the consumer all at an affordable price.
So why would a business want to use such a platform for their needs?
Most Importantly, a genApp Mobile App tells the consumer you care about their privacy, data, and identity.
If you want to learn more about the risks that come with scanning QR Codes without The genApp Mobile Framework view the results in this search for QR Code Fraud.
For more information on mobile app fraud and how it can effect you view the results in this search for Mobile App Fraud.
QR Code Fraud is on the rise and it can effect consumers and business owners. These are great little codes, they are used in marketing, finance, and even in recreation. During the Covid-19 pandemic they have served as a way to transmit information to people in a touchless manner, such as in restaurants for menus. They are simple to print, easy to distribute, and provide a wide range of functionality from contact cards to financial transactions. Unfortunately, this makes them very appealing to those who wish to do you harm.
QR Codes have become so popular that security companies are planning to offer QR Code scanners that will scan the site before you go there. That all sounds great unless the programmer utilizes anti-scanning techniques to prevent detection, just like they currently do in your browser. While scanning programs can help protect you, if only 1% of all Facebook users, as an example, wrote viruses, how could anyone keep up with all that code. We all know they are not full-proof, or nobody would ever get a virus who was using anti-virus. Anti-virus scanning products use a database and analytics to determine if a file is harmful. When a new virus, or other harmful content, is found they add it to the database to help protect you. What if your the one who found it, someone has to, and what harm could it cause? Anti-virus is kind of ironic in a way, it protects you against viruses, which are programs that run in the background taking up processor time, live on your computer taking up hard drive space and/or memory, and send data over your network taking up your bandwidth. So we protect ourselves with anti-virus software we install on our computer, taking up hard drive space and memory, it runs in the background taking processor time, and update itself over the internet taking up bandwidth. Having said that, viruses have been around since I was a child and saved my data on cassette tapes as I waited for the release of the floppy disc, and they are not going away, ever! Hence, the need for anti-virus.
The genApp platform is a new approach to delivering safe content to consumers. Keeping in mind that nothing on the internet is safe, or secure, regardless of what tools you use to protect yourself because hackers and scammers change their techniques to thwart the security measures implemented. Our technology controls both sides of the equation. The app you put on your device (the genApp Mobile Framework) and the content it reads (the app interface you wish to see). The genApp Mobile Framework is the part that has access to your hardware and data on your device. The genApp Mobile Framework does require some hardware access, such as your camera for scanning QR Codes and your storage for saving settings. We guarantee we have not written our app to do anything it shouldn't be doing with your data or hardware, nothing is running in the background, we do not even collect the email address tied to your device. The genApp API allows for app interfaces to be written for the genApp Mobile Framework to read and display. The QR Code scanner used within the genApp Mobile Framework verifies that the QR Code your scanning is a genuine genApp QR Code before it loads it for you to view. If a QR Code has the genApp logo on it, it's only an indicator that it's been designed for the genApp Mobile Framework, but it could have been created by someone with less than stellar intentions, if you know what I mean. The genApp mobile framework validates each QR Code that is scanned to insure it's genuine. If the QR Code is fraudulent the genApp Mobile Framework will alert you to the potential danger.
So why would a business want to use such a platform for their needs?
Most Importantly, a genApp Mobile App tells the consumer you care about their privacy, data, and identity.
If you want to learn more about the risks that come with scanning QR Codes without The genApp Mobile Framework view the results in this search for QR Code Fraud.
For more information on mobile app fraud and how it can effect you view the results in this search for Mobile App Fraud.