Malicious mobile apps can pose significant risks to the security and privacy of users' devices and data. These apps may contain harmful code that can steal sensitive information, install malware, or even take control of the device.

App spoofing is a type of attack in which an attacker creates a fake or imitation version of a legitimate app to trick users into downloading and installing it. This spoofed app can contain malicious code or steal sensitive information from the user. Spoofing can be done through various methods, such as creating a fake app store, manipulating the app's metadata, or copying the app's interface and functionality.

Unfortunately, it is possible for malicious apps to appear in app stores like the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store. Although these stores have strict guidelines and security measures in place to prevent the distribution of malicious apps, some malicious actors may find ways to bypass these measures and publish their apps. These malicious apps may be disguised as legitimate apps or contain hidden malicious functionality that is difficult to detect.

Spoofed apps in app stores may use similar app names to the original app they are imitating. This is because using a similar name can help the spoofed app to appear more legitimate and make it easier to trick users into downloading and installing it. However, the name may not be exactly the same, as the attacker may modify it slightly to avoid detection or to make it more appealing to users. Therefore as a monitoring or reserach task you can use the original name of the app or part of it in your reserach task

Example: You have an ebanking app called "FirstBank-EBanking". In such a case it would make sense to reserach only the part "FirstBank" as "Ebanking" will trigger too many false positives.

You will be able to get alerts if an app with a similar name appears in one of the official stores.

Currently we monitor the two most populat stores iTunes from Apple and Google Play Store.