socialrosiechen: Up to 20% of Android apps could be spyware

Friday, June 25, 2010

Up to 20% of Android apps could be spyware

A new report from SMobile Systems suggests that almost 20% of the 48,000 apps on the Android Marketplace could be spyware.

Now, this is a potential risk -- as in, 20% of apps have functionality that could be likened to spyware. If you've installed apps on an Android smartphone, you'll know that you get a big warning screen that tells you which services and data the app will have access to. There's no risk when an app only wants to save to your SD card, but apps can make calls, send SMSes or even read your email! Therein lies the risk: users might be installing Android apps that have the ability to transmit your personal data to a third party.

While I'm sure the vast majority of available apps are not spyware -- this is probably just developers selecting the wrong 'flags' when they upload their app to the Marketplace -- it does highlight a big risk with 'open' app stores. Only 3 months ago we covered a story about Android and iPhone devices being turned into a giant botnet!

With Android going mainstream, you can be guaranteed that the platform will soon have its very own breed of malware. Once enough newbies have had their Android phones bricked by malware, how long do you think it'll be before they retreat to Apple's walled utopia?

[via CNET -- direct PDF download of the report]