"Pokemon GO" has risen up in the ranks of the mobile gaming world in just a short amount of time. Now hackers are using the most popular game today to do harm to gamers all over the world.
"Pokemon GO" malware?
As of we speak, Niantic Labs' massive mobile game hit "Pokemon GO" has been trending worldwide for all the good and bad reasons and it didn't took long for hackers to take advantage of the situation. Proofpoint, a company based in Sunnyvale, California that focuses on online security are the one's who identified the malware "Pokemon GO" APK.
The company has stated that the "Pokemon GO" APK includes a remote access tool called DroidJack. Thus granting the hacker control and access over the victim's phone.
Proofpoint also stated that "individuals worried about whether or not they downloaded a malicious APK have a few options to help them determine if they are now infected. First, they may check the SHA256 hash of the downloaded APK. The legitimate application that has been often linked to by media outlets has a hash of 8bf2b0865bef06906cd854492dece202482c04ce9c5e881e02d2b6235661ab67, although it is possible that there are updated versions already released. The malicious APK that we analyzed has a SHA256 hash of 15db22fd7d961f4d4bd96052024d353b3ff4bd135835d2644d94d74c925af3c4."
You can also check your phone's permission settings to see if the "Pokemon GO" APK file is safe or not. The steps are Settings -> Apps -> Pokemon GO and then scrolling down to the permissions.
The first photo will show the permissions that is being asked by the safe and clean "Pokemon GO" APK, now for the second and third photos, you can see the added permission of Droidjack to have the capability of taking over someone's phone. Permissions can change over time as "Pokemon GO" begins to get updates however these are the permissions asked by the app as of its current version.
You can check the screenshots for the official "Pokemon GO" APK and backdoored APK permissions HERE:
The startup screen or the sign up screen is somehow the same for the official app and the malware "Pokemon GO" APK, so experts are advising overeager "Pokemon GO" fans to better wait for the official global rollout instead.
Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more "Pokemon GO" news and updates!
