100K Google Android apps pose security risk: Bit9

A mobile security report from security vendor Bit9 said that 100,000 applications it examined on Google Play were questionable or suspicious due to the types of ermissions
they requested, the reputation of the application's publisher and other factors.

Security vendor Bit9 classified more than 100,000 applications on Google Play as questionable" or "suspicious" in a new report that the company said underscores the sometimes overlooked risks posed by permission-hungry applications.

Bit9's criteria for defining an application as "questionable" or "suspicious" included permissions requested by the application, categorization of the application, user rating, number of downloads and the reputation of the application's publisher.

In its examination of more than 400,000 Android apps, Bit9 found 72 percent use at least one high-risk permission. In addition, 42 percent of the apps access GPS location data, including wallpapers, games and utilities; 31 percent access phone calls or phone numbers; 26 percent access personal data, such as contacts and email; and 9 percent use permissions
that can cost the user money.

"Our research shows that 26 percent of apps in Google Play have access to personal information such as contacts and email, and in our survey, 96 percent of employers, who permit personal devices to access their networks, allow employees to connect to company email and contacts," according to the company's report. "So as more companies allow their employees to access their organizational data from personal devices, employers must
recognize the threats to their intellectual property posed by unmonitored devices."