Malicious and risky apps on Android and iOS

Knowingly or unknowingly to the user, some apps can collect GPS data, grab your contact information, your phone ID, email address, etc.

In this podcast recorded at Black Hat USA 2014, Mike Raggo, Security Evangelist at MobileIron, talks about the risky behavior of certain apps downloaded from Google Play or the App Store.

While the media has written extensively about the risks associated with malicious apps, Appthority has released a survey that found 95% of the top 200 free iOS and Android apps exhibit at least one risky behavior:

• 70% allow location tracking
• 69% allow access to social networks
• 56% identify users
• 53% are integrated with ad networks
• 51% allow in-app purchasing
• 31% enable address books and contact lists to be read.