Spyware backdoor prompts Google to pull 500 apps with 100m downloads

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/08/500-google-play-apps-with-100-million-downloads-had-spyware-backdoor/

by dvdhnt • 9 years ago

18 5 9 years ago

arstechnica.com

hesselink• 9 years ago

Does anyone have the list of affected apps? It doesn't seem to be in the original blog post.

DarkKomunalec• 9 years ago

So no word on whether the spyware authors can be identified and if they'll be prosecuted? Only teenage hackers can get in trouble?

PhantomGremlin2• 9 years ago

Of course all this spyware is evil and wrong.

But let's look at what the spyware does:

makes it easier for apps to connect to ad networks and deliver ads that are targeted to the specific interests of end users

...

The most serious spyware installed on phones were packages that stole call histories, including the time a call was made, the number that placed the call, and whether the call went through. Other stolen data included GPS locations, lists of nearby Wi-Fi networks, and lists of installed apps.

How is any of that distinguishable from what Google/Android does routinely? The only difference is that some people trust Google and/or their phone manufacturer with this. We don't "trust" spyware.

lern_too_spel• 9 years ago

Informed consent. The difference is a privacy policy that says they're doing it.

Users volunteer their call history to Google Voice to get call forwarding and visual voicemail. Users volunteer their GPS data to get crowd-sourced traffic information.

PhantomGremlin2• 9 years ago

I want to quibble with "informed consent", which many people use to describe this situation.

Yes, there is a privacy policy, and companies like Apple and Google take that policy seriously.

But, question 100 random iOS or Android users and ask them if they use Apple Maps or Google Maps. Many/most will say "yes". Then ask them if they realize that their phone is uploading their GPS location in real time to Apple or Google, and probably 90% will say "no".

So I don't think there is "informed consent" for most consumers. It's more like "this works, I love it, I don't want to know how it works". Google and Apple make an attempt at informing people by having them click on various agreements that nobody reads, but I'd call the result of that more "indifference" than "informed consent". When is the last time you ever read any of those things you clicked thru? For me it's probably been decades, perhaps as far back as the 1980s.

Stuff like Google Voice is another thing entirely. It's not really a mainstream product, it's more for geeks. The types of people who use it are generally quite cool about giving Google their personal information.

Spyware backdoor prompts Google to pull 500 apps with 100m downloads

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