Tekya

Tekya is an Android malware family that is being spread via bogus copies of popular applications. The dodgy programs are hosted on the official Google Play Store, and the 56 samples uncovered by malware researchers had accumulated a total of over one million downloads. The applications that crooks used to distribute the Tekya malware are mostly small games for children, but the corrupted code also was found in some utility applications such as calculators, photo editors and others.

The good news is that Tekya is not as threatening as other cyber malware for Android, but this certainly does not mean that its presence is not a problem. This malware specializes in ad-fraud – it mimics the actions of users to click on advertisements delivered by various advertising networks. By doing so, the authors of the Tekya malware may boost their advertising revenue artificially.

The Android Malware Targets Kids Games and Utility Applications

Keep in mind that the applications that bring Tekya to your device will function as expected, so it is very umprobable that you will notice anything out of the ordinary. While the current use of Tekya's features is limited to clicking on advertisements, it is entirely possible that this malware may be weaponized to carry out more nefarious tasks on compromised hosts – for example, it might be used to send text messages without the user's approval.

The majority of the bogus applications that carried the Tekya payload have been removed from the Google Play Store, but it is very likely that there are thousands of copies installed on devices worldwide. We advise our readers to ensure that their Android devices are protected by a regularly updated anti-malware application that can keep them safe from the most recent Android threats such as Tekya. Do not forget that the fact that an application is hosted on the Google Play Store does not guarantee that it is safe to use – cybercriminals continue to discover new methods to bypass Google's security mechanisms and upload harmful applications to the official Google Play Store.