The piracy in Android is a serious problem that, unfortunately, is part of its own idiosyncrasies. From the beginning, Android / Google has allowed applications and games to be installed outside of Google Play, either in APK format or through third-party stores such as Aptoide, Uptodown, or APKMirror. One of the most famous was Black Market, an app store/repository that was very famous in the early days of Android and that, gradually, has been disappearing from the face of the earth. What has become of her?
Black Market has been renamed BlackMart Alpha, although its interface has not changed at all. It continues to maintain the holo aesthetic, and, indeed, it continues to have almost any application you can imagine, whether it is paid or free. It is not difficult to access the application if you know how to search for it in Google, although it will probably not appear if you type its original name. Although it is promoted as an “alternative store to Google Play to download apps without having to create a Google account,” the reality is what it is. Whoever uses these stores does it to hack.
In the same way that its interface has not changed, its security has not changed either. The problem with BlackMart and other Aptoide-type app repositories is that third parties upload the APK files. There are no security filters and no protection measures so that anyone can upload an APK infected with malware, adware, and other malicious software. However, it is not necessary to download anything to get infected. Before installing the BlackMart APK on our Android, we went through VirusTotal, and the surprise was great to find that 27 out of 59 antivirus engines detect adware, Trojans, and spyware.
Interestingly, according to SimilarWeb, 71% of the traffic that goes to the web is organic and comes from search engines such as Google or Yahoo! The country that visits the web the most to download the APK is France, with 12.05% of total visits. The second is India, with 10.42%, and the third is Brazil, with 10.17%. 6% of traffic comes from social networks. Of that 6%, 80% originated from YouTube, 10% from Facebook, and 8% from Reddit. The download website receives almost a million visits a month, so we could say that almost a million people are susceptible to being infected with malware and adware—the price to pay for not wanting to pay. Curious irony.
Remember that anything downloading applications not on Google Play carries a risk to the integrity of your smartphone and your data. If an app is paid, you have to pay for it. Otherwise, you will be robbing the developer. Just because apps like Aptoide or BlackMart make hundreds of free paid apps and games available to you, it doesn’t mean you have to download them. It is illegal and unsafe.
Sharlene Meriel is an avid gamer with a knack for technology. He has been writing about the latest technologies for the past 5 years. His contribution in technology journalism has been noteworthy. He is also a day trader with interest in the Forex market.
