Warning application that watch World Cup contains malicious code

The biggest football tournament on the planet is taking place in an exciting way in Qatar. There are many applications online to watch World Cup 2022 matches for free. Of these, the Kora442 application was distributed through the Facebook fanpage of the same name. Although the application is not available on the Play Store, it is provided as an APK file for manual installation on Android devices.

The application advertising provider is completely free and not only to watch the match, but users can also update the scores of the competitions at the 2022 World Cup. Therefore, it has successfully “trapped” with hundreds of Kora442 app downloads on Android devices.

The Kora442 application interface “traps” users to download and watch the 2022 World Cup. Photo: ESET

Security firm ESET Research, based in Slovakia, warned that the Kora442 application includes malicious code capable of reading SMS messages, allowing hackers to take control of the device remotely.

When users install it, hackers can also control call logs, contacts, photos, clipboard and even the ability to take pictures or record calls. These data are filtered and uploaded to the hacker’s server.

ESET said there were at least 750 infected machines and the number is likely to increase because the website has not been disabled and the 2022 World Cup is only 1/3 of the way.

Therefore, security experts warn that if you have accidentally installed the user, you need to quickly remove the Kora442 application from your device.