Google

McAfee researchers uncovered 15 SpyLoan Android apps available on Google Play, cumulatively achieving over 8 million installs, mainly targeting users across South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. These apps engaged in social engineering tactics to siphon off sensitive user data and gain excessive permissions, leading to incidents of extortion, harassment, and considerable financial loss for the users. As a result of these malicious activities, some applications were taken down by Google for breaching Google Play policies, while others underwent updates by their developers to comply with regulations. Victims of these SpyLoan apps experienced various threats, including misuse of personal data and aggressive harassment strategies such as spamming contacts and leveraging personal photos or IDs for intimidation.

Source: https://securityaffairs.com/171553/cyber-crime/15-spyloan-android-apps-on-google-play.html

TPRM report: https://scoringcyber.rankiteo.com/company/google

"id": "goo000120424",
"linkid": "google",
"type": "Vulnerability",
"date": "11/2024",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Over 8 million',
                        'location': ['South America',
                                     'Southeast Asia',
                                     'Africa'],
                        'name': 'Google Play Users',
                        'type': 'Consumers'}],
 'attack_vector': 'Malicious Mobile Apps',
 'data_breach': {'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Sensitive User Data',
                                              'Personal Photos',
                                              'IDs']},
 'description': 'McAfee researchers uncovered 15 SpyLoan Android apps '
                'available on Google Play, cumulatively achieving over 8 '
                'million installs, mainly targeting users across South '
                'America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. These apps engaged in '
                'social engineering tactics to siphon off sensitive user data '
                'and gain excessive permissions, leading to incidents of '
                'extortion, harassment, and considerable financial loss for '
                'the users. As a result of these malicious activities, some '
                'applications were taken down by Google for breaching Google '
                'Play policies, while others underwent updates by their '
                'developers to comply with regulations. Victims of these '
                'SpyLoan apps experienced various threats, including misuse of '
                'personal data and aggressive harassment strategies such as '
                'spamming contacts and leveraging personal photos or IDs for '
                'intimidation.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['Sensitive User Data',
                                 'Personal Photos',
                                 'IDs']},
 'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': 'Google Play Store'},
 'motivation': 'Financial Gain, Data Theft, Harassment',
 'response': {'containment_measures': ['Apps Taken Down',
                                       'Updates by Developers']},
 'title': 'SpyLoan Android Apps Incident',
 'type': 'Data Breach, Extortion, Harassment',
 'vulnerability_exploited': 'Social Engineering, Excessive Permissions'}