A malware developed using the Kotlin programming language is the new cause of concern for Google Play Store. It was recently found that Kotlin can be used to develop nasty apps, which will be difficult to detect. Trend Micro, a cyber-defense and security firm, discovered a malicious app posing as Swift Cleaner for optimizing Android devices. The Kotlin-developed app is capable of information theft and click ad fraud among other damages.
Kotlin was hailed by Google as a healthy language with in-built safety features for apps. The programming language was written by JetBrains, a Russian Java developer company. Google adopted Kotlin approved Android development in 2017. This information can be a worrying situation for other leading users of the programming language which include Netflix, Twitter and Pinterest. The application is allegedly capable of carrying out remote command execution and sign up users without permission for premium SMS services. While Google was informed of this security threat by Trend Micro, Google confirmed that Google Play Protect is capable of handling user safety from such cyber-breaches. The application already displays more than 1000 downloads in the app store, an indication of the rise in threat.
