iPhone 4 headsup

[MrRiplEy[H]]

where do you get this information?  I cant find it.  15% of apps with malware?  the link you posted only indicates that the "majority of malware apps are in the secondary markets".  you would think that being a security company they would have mentioned that 15% of play store apps have malware. heck that's how they make their money.


midway

It was widely in the tech news some time ago, unfortunately I couldnt find the link anymore. It reported that around 15-17% of the new apps loaded to the Play store had to be removed for malware. That's not a problem in itself but the cases where SMS trojans have slipped past the checks and gone unnoticed for months, are.

Even Apples checks don't seem to be bullet proof - a malware called 'find and call' has slipped to both Android and Apple stores. On Android the situation is much worse however, it's easy to google for 'sms trojan' or something similar and you'll find a huge amount of reports of trojans that have been distributed through the play store.

If you think security companies can make up stories like this, don't you think they'd get sued in a blink of an eye by Apple if they had no proof?

[numb1]

People still use iphones 

[zack1234]

Yes
It's fantastic 

[guncrasher]

It was widely in the tech news some time ago, unfortunately I couldnt find the link anymore. It reported that around 15-17% of the new apps loaded to the Play store had to be removed for malware. That's not a problem in itself but the cases where SMS trojans have slipped past the checks and gone unnoticed for months, are.

Even Apples checks don't seem to be bullet proof - a malware called 'find and call' has slipped to both Android and Apple stores. On Android the situation is much worse however, it's easy to google for 'sms trojan' or something similar and you'll find a huge amount of reports of trojans that have been distributed through the play store.

If you think security companies can make up stories like this, don't you think they'd get sued in a blink of an eye by Apple if they had no proof?

so you have no proof at all to back up your 15% claim.  you are very knowledgeable mrrippley nobody disputes that, but there's some things you get stuck on and will try to pass as "truth" when they are just a bunch of misleading statements that you found somewhere to back up something that you think should be done.

I can google iphone problems and come up with a bunch of links about how the iphone is a piece of garbage.  does that trully make it a piece of garbage?  with the amount of apps I have downloaded (over 300) you would think that if that 15% would be accurate that just based on average I would have found at least 1 piece of malware by now.  I have an android phone and an android tablet.  my previous phone was also an android.  at work most of the guys use android phones some actually ditched their iphones for android.  you would think that by now at least 1 of us (about 16 guys) would have found at least one instance of malware.  not saying that there arent any but that your claim of 15% malware apps is highly exaggerated.

it's been known for a long time that secondary markets is where the apps with malware are found.  that I do believe that the 15% would be accurate.  but since i dont go to secondary markets, I wouldnt know about it.  actually not totally accurate as I also use the amazon app store, but they have a bit more security than the play store.





midway

[MrRiplEy[H]]

so you have no proof at all to back up your 15% claim.

First of all: How do you know how many apps are removed from the play store if you didn't see any research articles on it?

I had the article some months ago, now Ive lost the link. If you would keep up with the tech news you would have seen it also. For some reason (perhaps not surprisingly) Google search doesn't find it with the obvious keywords. But I saw the article and read it maybe 6 months ago. I posted the link either here or some other forum too in the past.

Here's an article that is probably based on the same study that article was from: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/21/37-of-published-android-apps-were-later-removed-compared-to-24-of-ios-apps/

Although Apple regularly cleans up its store from inappropriate or outdated content, its active application share still exceeds that of Android. It is likely that the more rigid application submission requirements prevent developers from publishing multiple trial or low quality applications whereas publishers in the Android Market place a lot of market testing, trials, demo and malware content.

The article pointed that more alarming than the 37% removal rate was that 15% or so of the removed applications on Android store were removed due to malware or other suspicious behaviour compared to removals on Apple store which (untill recently) happened only due to inappropriate content due to policies preventing the launch of the malware in the first place.

Android faces a huge problem with app repackaging, it lacks code signing which means that developers can repackage and update their apps from external sources afterwards and sneak in ad- and malware. The adware is luckily far more common presently than the malware.

[guncrasher]

First of all: How do you know how many apps are removed from the play store if you didn't see any research articles on it?

I had the article some months ago, now Ive lost the link. If you would keep up with the tech news you would have seen it also. For some reason (perhaps not surprisingly) Google search doesn't find it with the obvious keywords. But I saw the article and read it maybe 6 months ago. I posted the link either here or some other forum too in the past.

Here's an article that is probably based on the same study that article was from: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/21/37-of-published-android-apps-were-later-removed-compared-to-24-of-ios-apps/

The article pointed that more alarming than the 37% removal rate was that 15% or so of the removed applications on Android store were removed due to malware or other suspicious behaviour compared to removals on Apple store which (untill recently) happened only due to inappropriate content due to policies preventing the launch of the malware in the first place.

Android faces a huge problem with app repackaging, it lacks code signing which means that developers can repackage and update their apps from external sources afterwards and sneak in ad- and malware. The adware is luckily far more common presently than the malware.

the article doesnt mention any of the claims you make.  actually the article isnt even focused on malware at all.  it is focused on the number of apps removed from the markets for any reason.

however it does say that android removed 118,089 apps while apple removed 110,301.   so basically when that article was published apple removed nearly as many useless apps as android did.   so both markets had as many useless apps.  big deal.  a quick glance will tell you that the majority of the apps copy each other and that big percentage of the apps in both markets are crap.  it doesnt take a genius to notice that.  just because apple does "some enhanced research" doesnt mean that a big percentage of their apps posted arent crap just like the ones on android.

crap apps are crap apps no matter what market they're on.

midway

[MrRiplEy[H]]

the article doesnt mention any of the claims you make.  actually the article isnt even focused on malware at all.  it is focused on the number of apps removed from the markets for any reason.

however it does say that android removed 118,089 apps while apple removed 110,301.   so basically when that article was published apple removed nearly as many useless apps as android did.   so both markets had as many useless apps.  big deal.  a quick glance will tell you that the majority of the apps copy each other and that big percentage of the apps in both markets are crap.  it doesnt take a genius to notice that.  just because apple does "some enhanced research" doesnt mean that a big percentage of their apps posted arent crap just like the ones on android.

crap apps are crap apps no matter what market they're on.

midway

Of those 118 000 apps on Android store a portion are malware apps. The screening is done after release on Android and prior to release on Apple. This is why iOS has had its first in the wild infection this year despite being the most popular single platform for years.

[guncrasher]

Of those 118 000 apps on Android store a portion are malware apps. The screening is done after release on Android and prior to release on Apple. This is why iOS has had its first in the wild infection this year despite being the most popular single platform for years.

I agree with you but what I disagree is that 15% of all the apps are malware as there is no evidence of it and the definition of malware is stretched by some security companies.

 I'll agree that 15% of the apps in the secondary market are malware and probably the percentage is higher but I am just guessing as I never use them.  the only secondary market that is highly rated is the amazon app store.  so if you stick to the amazon and play stores along with never get an app unless it has been around for a while and it has tens of thousands of users then the chances of getting malware is very small.

midway

midway

[Denniss]

The IPhone 4 is the best phone ever invented

It will never be bettered

 

Sarcasm?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I agree with you but what I disagree is that 15% of all the apps are malware as there is no evidence of it and the definition of malware is stretched by some security companies.

 I'll agree that 15% of the apps in the secondary market are malware and probably the percentage is higher but I am just guessing as I never use them.  the only secondary market that is highly rated is the amazon app store.  so if you stick to the amazon and play stores along with never get an app unless it has been around for a while and it has tens of thousands of users then the chances of getting malware is very small.

midway

midway

But you also agree that tens of thousands of Android users have been infected with money stealing trojans directly from the official store? Then we're starting to be on the same level.

[guncrasher]

But you also agree that tens of thousands of Android users have been infected with money stealing trojans directly from the official store? Then we're starting to be on the same level.

I dont know about 10s of thousands but on the other hand the 15% of apps having malware is inaccurate.   most people that have gotten infected has been thru the secondary markets.  that has been known for a while.  but very few actually acknowledge that it was their stupidity that caused it.  it's like most people deny they got a virus by watching pron, they always claim that they know how to surf correctly and it must have been from a good site.

You also have to remember that some companies sell  android phones that have no access to the play store these phones can only get apps thru the secondary market and that is where the tens of thousands of infections happen.  but security companies like to mention android infections and play store and malware on the same sentence and then somewhere at the end they will correctly indicate that most of the infections are on these secondary markets.

miday

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I dont know about 10s of thousands

Yeah it's actually 100s of thousands. Like just in this 1 separate incident: http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/07/more-malware-found-hosted-in-google-android-market/

"Super Mario Bros." and "GTA 3 Moscow City," as the malicious apps were packaged, generated as many as 100,000 downloads,

[guncrasher]

Yeah it's actually 100s of thousands. Like just in this 1 separate incident: http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/07/more-malware-found-hosted-in-google-android-market/

yes and this is from your own link:

"The post appears to say that victims of this malware were at some point still presented with a list of permissions that included "services that cost you money," which would mean that end users who fell prey to this threat shoulder much of the responsibility"

every app that you download has a set of permissions if you fail to review them then you got nobody but yourself to blame.

midway

[MrRiplEy[H]]

yes and this is from your own link:

"The post appears to say that victims of this malware were at some point still presented with a list of permissions that included "services that cost you money," which would mean that end users who fell prey to this threat shoulder much of the responsibility"

every app that you download has a set of permissions if you fail to review them then you got nobody but yourself to blame.

midway

This was just one example you know well that there are multiple malwares that bypass the security checks. It seems this really is fruitless.. I'll let go.

[guncrasher]

This was just one example you know well that there are multiple malwares that bypass the security checks. It seems this really is fruitless.. I'll let go.

well see my original statement that you claim was that 15% of all apps in the play store have malware.  so far you havent given any proof that your statement is accurate.  and everytime you post something is to basically to move away from that statement.

not trying to argue with you just to be annoying but being somebody that uses the play market then if you have proof that it is accurate then i want to know because it is in my best interest to know.  but if it is based on some obscure document that is long gone then I am skeptical about it.

it is common knowledge that apps do get thru that have malware.  but it is also common knowledge that you must approve the security for each app that you download.  a game should not have access to direct dial or to text messaging, if it does need it then for the sake of security dont download it.  it is that simple.

ultimately you are responsible for your own phone just like you are responsible for what happens to your computer.

midway