iPhone dangerous apps: Apple users should delete these malware infected apps immediately

iPhone users are now being urged to delete the dangerous apps - this is what you need to know.

What is malware?

Researchers from Wandera’s threat research team discovered that 17 apps on the Apple App Store were infected with something called “clicker trojan malware”.

Wandera says, “Clicker Trojan is a well-understood class of malware that performs ad-fraud by making frequent connections to ad networks or websites in order to artificially inflate visitor counts or to generate revenue on a pay-per-click basis.”

The apps would also slow down the phone performance and also drain mobile data faster than usual, which could leave Apple users out of pocket unless they’re on an unlimited data plan.

The research team found that all the apps were published by the same developer, AppAspect Technologies Pvt Ltd, based in India.

The full list of dangerous apps

It is difficult for users to identify which apps are malicious, as the apps all perform exactly as you would expect.

This is the full list of apps that should be removed from your Apple device:

- RTO Vehicle Information

- EMI Calculator & Loan Planner

- File Manager - Documents

- Smart Gps Speedometer

- CrickOne - Live Cricket Scores

- Daily Fitness - Yoga Poses

- Fm Radio Pro - Internet Radio

- My Train Info - IRCTC & PNR

- Around Me Place Finder

- Easy Contacted Backup Manager

- Ramadan Times 2019 Pro

- Restaurant Finder - Find Food

- Bmt Calculator Pro - BMR Calc

- Dual Accounts Pro

- Video Editor - Mute Video

- Islamic World Pro - Qibla

- Smart Video Compressor

At time of publication, AppAspect Technologies Pvt Ltd still has two apps on the store:

- Quick Sticker Maker

- Doc Scanner - Documents

Neither of these apps were found to contain malware.

AppAspect Technologies Pvt Ltd also has 28 apps on the Google Play store, but Wandera tested these apps and found them to be clear of malicious software.

However, a report from Wandera did state that “additional research found that AppAspect’s Android apps had once been infected in the past and removed from the store. They have since been republished and don’t appear to have the malicious functionality embedded.”

How to delete the apps

Apple has removed the apps in question from their App Store, but users will still need to manually remove them from their devices.

Users will need to hold down the app icon on their phone until it starts to wiggle around. Tap the ‘X’ symbol and then choose delete.

On iPhone X (or later) you’ll then press done, or for other models just press the home button.