6th June 2023 – (Bratislava) Security experts are warning people to delete a screen recording app that was available on the Google Play Store, after researchers at cybersecurity company ESET found that it contained malicious code that could spy on users. The app, named iRecorder – Screen Recorder, was launched in 2021 and had more than 50,000 installs from the Google Play Store before it was removed.
According to ESET, the app initially did not have any harmful features, but in August 2022, malicious code was included in an update, enabling it to record audio from the device’s microphone, steal files, and capture files with extensions allowing it to save web pages, images, audio, video, and document files.
The app has since been removed from Google Play, but users who had already uploaded the app prior to the malicious features being added could have added them if they updated the app.
Lukas Stefanko, an ESET researcher, said that it is quite uncommon for an application to receive an update containing malicious code several months after its launch. ESET has not found any concrete evidence attributing the app to a particular group or individual cybercriminal.
This incident highlights the importance of being vigilant when downloading apps and keeping them up to date with the latest security patches. It is also a reminder to users to regularly review the permissions granted to the apps they use, and to delete any apps that are no longer needed or have been flagged as potentially harmful.