News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Malware on My Android Phone by simonmales on Monday January 11, 2021 @04:45AM (#25726740)
I believe 'Barcode Scanner' was potentially one of the first barcode scanners on Android. Been using it since Android 1.x on the ADP1.

Don't forget it is on the Google Play store too. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.zxi...

There was a time when QR Code scanning was better in Android than iOS (native in iOS 11.x).

The "Google" way of scanning QR Codes is Google Lens, but it doesn't work offline :|

Re:Malware on My Android Phone by tusharpandey13 on Monday January 11, 2021 @05:13AM (#25726920)
Beware, the play store version shows full screen ads, auto redirects and needs contacts permissions.
Re:Malware on My Android Phone by riphdd2020 on Monday January 11, 2021 @06:25AM (#25727515)
Is there any proof for this, apart from those bad reviews? The blog mentions another (now removed app) with the package name com.qrcodescanner.barcodescanner, not the open source one at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.zxi...

I believe these bad reviews might be a result of the malware app pushing bad reviews to the zxing app page on google play, using an in app 'rate this app?' -> low rating -> send to the zxing app in Google Play (instead of the malware app in google play).

Re:Malware on My Android Phone by Rooster61 on Monday January 11, 2021 @10:51AM (#25730526)
As noted above, I believe this to be the case. I had the other app and started receiving full page ads for it. Totally different developer, but same app name. I am no longer able to find that app in the play store.
Re:Malware on My Android Phone by simonmales on Monday January 11, 2021 @05:22AM (#25726991)
Ah, looks like mine installation is actually from FDroid, and never realised.
Re:Malware on My Android Phone by rjmunro on Monday January 11, 2021 @08:22AM (#25728524)
I've installed from Google Play, and never seen any ads. It has contacts permission, but that's because sharing contacts with a QR code is something I use it for frequently (it can generate codes as well as scan them).