Google has removed more than a dozen malicious apps harboring Android spyware from its Google Play marketplace. The spyware appears to have been developed by an Italian firm, which is now under investigation for its development. Researchers allege that the apps have infected several hundred up to as many as a thousand Italian victims with the malware, dubbed Exodus. The malware was spread via mobile applications on Google Play purporting to be service apps distributed by unspecified mobile operators in Italy. Google did not share the total number of victims infected, but researchers said they can estimate the number of infections to reach into the several hundreds of victims or even a thousand.
Source: https://threatpost.com/google-play-boots-italian-spyware-apps-that-infected-hundreds/143308/