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Check if your phone is at risk: Security companies release list of dangerous apps

Check if your phone is at risk: Security companies release list of dangerous apps

Summarize the news

  • The Association of Security Companies has released a list of dangerous apps.
  • There are 60 apps, mostly games and financial regulators.
  • So far, 36 of them have been banned from the app stores.
  • Others, using third-party code libraries, have made updates.

Apps use dangerous codes and put devices at risk
Photograph: Casper Pimple/Reuters

A group of digital security companies has warned users around the world not to uninstall at least 36 popular apps listed as dangerous on smartphones.

The analyzed programs, all of which are for Android, use system vulnerabilities to collect information such as lists of other installed apps, usage history of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, and location via GPS.

The alert was issued by McAfee and other companies that are part of the App Defense Alliance, an alliance of digital security companies that analyzes application libraries for potential threats.

The companies report that many of these apps are legitimate, but they use third-party libraries that leak confidential information, either due to internal problems or maliciously. Together, the programs exceed 100 million downloads.

The full list contains 60 apps, and after risk detection, 36 of them have been removed from the Google Play Store, and the rest have updated coding so they don’t depend on shady libraries.

Another risk is the ability to surreptitiously load web pages in the background, which opens up the possibility of hacking or of loading ads without the user’s knowledge.

Most of the suspicious apps are games, and some are only available in South Korea. The main applications available in Western countries can be found below (the full list can be found here). on the McAfee blog):

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point with L.PAY (Gamemore than 10 million downloads)
slam brick breaker (Game+10 million)
Expenses manager money and budget (financial planning+10 million)
GOM launcher (media player+5 million)
live score (Sports statistics+5 million)
compass 9 (compass+1 million)

Of the aforementioned apps, only Swipe Brick and Compass 9 have been removed from the Play Store – the others have updated the library.

“Google has notified developers that their apps violate Google Play policies and that fixes are required to achieve compliance. Some apps have been removed from Google Play, while others have been updated by official developers,” the company said.

This case is another one that reinforces the need to always update apps and avoid installing unknown software.


Read below: Check out 7 tips to make your phone more secure and make it harder for thieves to use your apps