Samsung’s Danger – Apps Can Infect Phones
It’s hard to run your app store. Microsoft decided to go with Amazon when Windows 11 supported Android apps. Samsung even defended its bets and ran its app store for Galaxy devices alongside the Play Store for years. However, a clone of several Showbox movie piracy apps that Samsung is releasing to customers on its Galaxy Store may be able to infect a user’s device with malware.
Android Police noted that several apps based on Showbox on the Galaxy Store had triggered a Google Play Protect alert during some installations. We can assume that this warning is not in vain. Analysis of one of the Showbox apps in Virustotal shows more than a dozen low-class warnings from security providers. Some apps also require more permissions than expected, including access to contacts and phones.
Further investigation showed that the advertising technology in the app could execute dynamic code. For example, while the app itself may not directly contain malware, it may download and execute other code that may contain malware. According to Linuxct, there are very few legitimate use cases of this feature. Consequently, it can become a malicious program at any time. That’s why it’s unsafe, and so many vendors have tagged it in VT/Play Protect. Similar problems have been reported in at least two Showbox apps in the Galaxy Store;
Samsung does not just release apps that could potentially expose users to malware. These apps are a clone of other popular apps for piracy activation and copyrighted content. Including a reputation for access to movies and TV shows.
Samsung Plans and Showbox
The app descriptions claim that they do not contain pirate content and do not allow piracy. It is difficult to pinpoint whether applications are currently accessible on pirated content. Showbox app self-hosted sources cite similar claims. The app is referred to as the “Movie Database” application on the integrated VPN.
Note that Google does not store any apps on the Play Store. Samsung Galaxy Store does not control the number of installations. However, the apps under review have hundreds of reviews. Including a few that warn of malicious program warnings during installation. Showbox’s reputation is in question. We wonder what statement Samsung will make in this regard. It is worth noting that the Play Store is now considered the most apparent reliable source. However, It also had problems with Its malware.
