Malware
Sideloading (APK and unknown sources)
In Turkish: Mağaza dışı kurulum (APK, bilinmeyen kaynaklar)
Installing an app from a file or website instead of the official store, which skips the store's checks.
On Android an app file is called an APK. To install one from outside the store, the phone asks you to allow "unknown sources" or "install unknown apps" for that app. That one permission removes one of the phone's main protections.
Real couriers, banks and public offices do not send app files by text. Such a file is a common trick to get a program that reads your messages and bank codes.
What to do
- Keep "install unknown apps" off for your browser and messaging apps.
- Install apps only from the official store.
- If you already installed an app file from a message, remove it and change your passwords from another device.
Related terms
Learn it in the Academy
Try it
Free tools that put this to use.
- Message checker
Paste a suspicious text, WhatsApp message or email. We tell you whether it looks like a scam and what to do.