Beware, Filipino players who were able to access Pokemon Go via downloading a .apk outside of the Google Play Store. Researchers have recently discovered a .apk of the ground-breaking augmented realtiy mobile game which contains malware, called the DroidJack malicious remote access tool (RAT), or the SandroRAT. This malicious RAT could allow hackers to access the player’s phone without their knowledge.
When loading the .apk, the game still appears normal to the player who downloaded it, as if it were uninfected. Despite this, however, the app grants itself a bunch of unseen additional permissions that can compromise the phone. Should the infected phone join a network, the other machines that are also connected are put at risk too.
With this in mind, it might be worth it to simply wait for the official release of Pokemon Go in the country, rather than risk becoming infected with malware with a version outside of Google Play. For those who still have an unofficial version installed, it is recommended that the app permissions be checked, or have the app be uninstalled altogether.
