The Geek Way
However, if you’re a bit more paranoid and need a more firm confirmation, there’s the geekier way of checking the app for malware. According to Proof Point, it’ll require you to check the SHA-256 hash of the downloaded APK. Now this ONLY works if you still have the APK file you that you downloaded and installed Pokemon GO from. Here’s how you go about it:
1. Download a hash checker like Hash Droid, which we used
2. Choose to hash a file and select the hash function to SHA-256.
3. Choose the file to hash; it should USUALLY be located in your download folder if you’ve set it to download into internal data. In our case, it was in the /sdcard/Download folder.
4. Choose the Pokemon GO APK you downloaded and calculate the hash. Now you’ll see the SHA-256 hash of the APK. If you have the legit APK, the hash you should see is:
8bf2b0865bef06906cd854492dece202482c04ce9c5e881e02d2b6235661ab67
If it displays something else, it’s likely not a legit APK and could be infected with malware. And if you happen to come across this SHA-256 hash:
15db22fd7d961f4d4bd96052024d353b3ff4bd135835d2644d94d74c925af3c4
Well, the bad news is you got the malware infected APK. Best is to get rid of the app from your phone FAST.
Prevention is always better than a cure
So there you have it, the two ways to check if you got an infected Pokemon GO APK. Of course, the best way to not get infected is to take the proper precautions before you install the APK.
The simplest way? Wait till the game is officially released then only download it. With the global roll-out slowly but surely happening, it won’t be long till the game will officially hit our countries.
If you’re still impatient, then don’t just install any Tom, Dick and Harry APK you find online. Get it from “clean” sources. The APK we got and verified was “clean” was from APK Mirror, and you can get it from here.
For more Pokemon GO news and stories, head over here.
