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Android adware poses as YouTube clip utility

A malicious app that bombards Androids with ads is using all sorts of trickery to boost its ratings.

The app, dubbed Hiddad-BZ by security firm ESET, is available in the Google Play store where it poses as a tool to download content from YouTube.

The app uses a number of deceptive methods to trick users into installing its intrusive ad-displaying component while at the same time secure a good rating in the Google Play store.

The user is confronted with a screen full of ads and advised they would need to rate the app with five stars "to remove all ads". Cancelling the message will result in an even greater flood of ads on the hapless user's device, aiming to nagmail the user into rating the app as top notch next time the prompt is displayed.

More details on the app – and how to remove it – can be found in a blog post by ESET researcher Lukas Stefanko here. ®

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