A free security app for mobiles has been introduced by Malwarebytes to protect people from the growing number of Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) targeting Android users.
According to the company, the new version of Anti-Malware Mobile will give people an option to automatically detect and block the apps that aim to make money from aggressive advertising and in-app purchases, as well as collecting unnecessary amounts of personal data.
Claiming that such apps are usually classified by a human researcher, this solution determines adware in the product and more general PUPs including apps that seek suspicious permissions beyond their advertised function, impact device performance, use vulnerable code or operate dubious in-app purchases.
Marcin Kleczynski, CEO at Malwarebytes said “We have decided to give our users the option of protecting themselves against the rising number of Android apps which cannot be officially classified as malware, but sit in a legal gray area. Not only are these pieces of software annoying and needlessly expensive, but they can end up seeing personal data put to dubious use.
“Aggressive advertising and sneaky pay-to-play schemes in particular are on the increase. In the beginning there were few offenders, but there are now a number of SDKs on the market which make it easy to create multiple variants, as well as bundle these together in a single app.”
In addition to adding PUP protection, the new version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Mobile allows for scheduling of updates when a WiFi connection is present, social sharing of the app with friends, features French translation and allows users to send feedback and to request new features. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Mobile is powered by a custom-built protection engine, and can be downloaded for free from the Google Play or Amazon store.
