Aussie researchers found more than two-thousand bogus apps waiting for unsuspecting consumers to download from the Google Play store, raising concerns about online security.

The University of Sydney's Faculty of Engineering's School of Computer Science and Data61-CSIRO team spent two years going through more than a million apps.  They found 2,040 apps that acted more as a Trojan horse, impersonating popular legitimate apps and games such as Temple Run, Free Flow, and Hill Climb.  But these counterfeits are used by hackers to steal users' personal financial or other data, or implant malware.

"Many fake apps appear innocent and legitimate - smartphone users can easily fall victim to app impersonations and even a tech-savvy user may struggle to detect them before installation," explained cyber-security expert Dr. Suranga Seneviratne of the School of Computer Science.  "In an open app ecosystem like Google Play the barrier to entry is low so it's relatively easy for fake apps to infiltrate the market, leaving users at risk of being hacked," he added.

The researchers have several tips on how to avoid being taken in by bogus apps.  Easiest is to stick to official app stores, and simply don't install apps from non-official app stores or just by searching online.