Apps related to Netflix’s most popular show, Squid Game, have started appearing all over the place. The vast majority are unofficial, and some of them have been found to contain malware.
Forbes found a Squid Game wallpaper app on Google Play with malware that had been downloaded over 5,000 times before it was detected and deleted.
It could have been worse, in this case. The offending app was loaded with the Joker malware that signed users up to expensive SMS services, but future malware could be far more malicious.
Over 200 #SquidGame related apps are available on Google Play
Seems like a great opportunity to make money on in-app ads from one of the most popular TV show without official game.
The most downloaded of them reached 1M installs in 10 days. Its game play is not that well handled pic.twitter.com/gCOYXXaVHY— Lukas Stefanko (@LukasStefanko) October 19, 2021
Last week I wrote about a deluge of app classifications in Australia based on Squid Game. Over 200 were classified in the prior week, mostly due to the free online classification tool IARC, which only requires developers fill out a questionnaire and link to a store page.
I’m betting most of them don’t have Netflix’s blessing, though many of them do use the same themes and art — such as the iconic doll, and prisoners with numbers in games like Red Light, Green Light.
Perhaps the real question there is how many of the Squid Game games are actually malware – though most are likely just hastily-made versions of Red Light, Green Light looking to capitalise on the show’s popularity.