Samsung’s app marketplace Galaxy Store that comes pre-installed on its smartphones appears to be home to sketchy movie streaming apps, Android Police has found.
Several clones of the now-defunct Showbox movie streaming app being hosted on the Galaxy Store could be potentially dangerous. Per mobile security analyst linuxct, while these apps may not be harmful on their own, they appear to be armed with technology that may let them download and execute malware.
The issue came to light when the outlet’s writer Max Weinbach discovered that at least five of the Showbox copycats were possibly malicious after warnings from Google’s Play Protect and this prompted the publication to conduct an investigation.
Analysis done through online virus and malware scanning service Virustotal showed that something is definitely fishy. Some of the apps also ask for excessive permissions, including access to call logs.
The other issue is that Showbox had a reputation for being a pirate tool and there is little chance that the clones that are on the Galaxy Store are not infringing on copyrights. None of these apps can be found on Google’s Play Store.
Since the Galaxy Store doesn’t show an install count, it’s hard to ascertain how many times the apps in question were downloaded, but for what it’s worth, they have received hundreds of reviews, with some mentioning the malware warnings.
Samsung is yet to comment on the findings. Thus, for now, it might be a better idea for Samsung phone users to only download apps from Google’s Play Store.
