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Malicious App Proliferates Among Android Users

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The only thing worse than a virus is a persistent virus.

A certain app has been making its rounds on Android devices, both on and off official channels, and has been chaining phones to bot nets as it goes.

The app, “Ai.type,” bills itself as a customizable on-screen keyboard with an emphasis on emojis. In reality, however, the app is a front for invisible ads, fake clicks, and most worrisome, unauthorized purchases. Over all phones on which Ai.type has been installed, over a million unauthorized purchases of premium content have been made due to the app’s sticky fingers. If you’re wondering how that number is so high, that’s because the app has been installed on over 40 million phones.

Despite Google’s best efforts to ban the app from the Play Store, it seems to keep resurrecting. Even users who have performed full factory resets on their phones have found the app reinstalling itself to continue its dark work.

If you currently have Ai.type installed on your phone, delete it immediately. After that, do a detailed check of your phone’s activity logs, as well as your phone bills. If you see any unusual activity, things you didn’t buy, or sudden surges of data use, contact your service provider. It probably wouldn’t hurt to install a security program on there as well.

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