Barcode Scanner App Update Includes Malware Infection even though the app racks up more than 10 million downloads on Google’s Play Store and is one of the most popular apps in its class.
Barcode Scanner App is a simple, straightforward bit of code that does what it sounds like it does, which is why so many people have come to rely on it over the years.
Unfortunately, Google recently pulled the plug on the Barcode Scanner App, removing the app from the store after being there for years. The reason? Sometime during December 2020, an update to the Barcode Scanner App code saw the injection of malware.
Many users give the apps they regularly use a fairly free hand when downloading and installing updates. In this case, if you let your Barcode Scanner auto-update, the update installed a nasty Trojan on your smartphone that allows hackers complete control over the device.
Not good.
Users complaints after downloading the updated Barcode Scanner App:
- Default browser changing
- New default browser opening with no user intervention and surfing to different, usually ad-intensive pages.
- And displaying ads touting the benefits of other apps that have malware.
As bad as those things are, they’re not as bad as they could be. The Barcode Scanner App malware’s owners could have done significantly more damage than that.
Even so, the app is no longer on the Play Store. If you run an installation it on your phone or run an update in a while, your best bet is to uninstall the Barcode Scanner App and find an alternative that’s not brimming with malicious code.
Kudos to Google with their Play Store for taking swift action on the Barcode Scanner App, even if it meant the sudden end of an app with a multi-year history as a safe, reliable product.
