The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has released an official alert cautioning people in Nigeria about a fake website mimicking the Google Play Store.
Mrs. Hadiza Umar, who leads Corporate Affairs and ExternalRelations at NITDA, disclosed this information on Friday in Abuja.
Umar indicated that the counterfeit site was disseminating a novel malware variant referred to as the Play Praetor Trojan.
“Cyber criminals are utilizing fake sites crafted to resemble the Google Play Store with the intent of tricking people into installing harmful apps,” she stated.
She mentioned that the counterfeit Play Store links were disseminated using several social engineering methods such as phishing emails, harmful ads, and text messages.
As per Umar, after the counterfeit app is installed, the Play Praetor Trojan grants attackers unauthorized entry to the user’s device.
She cautioned that this access could result in data theft,credential harvesting,financial fraud,remote control of the device,and additional malware deployments.
She encouraged people to obtain applications solely from the official Google Play Store or other reliable sources.
Umar additionally recommended that users confirm the authenticity of app developers, peruse reviews prior to installing applications, consistently upgrade their devices and software to fix loopholes, and employ well-known mobile security tools to identify and prevent potential hazards.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc.
).
Leave a Comment