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posted by
martyb
on Friday January 05 2018, @03:50PM
from the the-play's-the-thing-where-I'll-capture... dept.
from the the-play's-the-thing-where-I'll-capture... dept.
TrendMicro has discovered 36 apps in Google Play that execute unwanted behavior:
These apps posed as useful security tools under the names Security Defender, Security Keeper, Smart Security, Advanced Boost, and more. They also advertised a variety of capabilities: scanning, cleaning junk, saving battery, cooling the CPU, locking apps, as well as message security, WiFi security, and so on.
The apps were actually able to perform these simple tasks, but they also secretly harvested user data, tracked user location, and aggressively pushed advertisements.
The apps in question have been removed from Google Play.
Related: Google Pauses Crackdown on Apps That Use Accessibility Features
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Apps on Google Play Disguised as Security Tools Instead Serve Ads and Track Users' Location
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(Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday January 05 2018, @07:06PM (3 children)
I do all that that stuff. I limit screen time pretty severely, actually. But, like it or not, familiarity with electronic devices and how they work is a standard thing kids learn these days. For that small amount of time I'd prefer to have a kid do something educational rather than playing Candy Crush or Angry Birds or whatever.
And there are plenty of apps that are good for drilling and repetitive learning tasks, not to mention some truly innovative ones (e.g., Dragonbox, where even a preschool kid can learn the basics of algebraic symbolic manipulation by playing a game about getting a box by itself).
As for my "mobile prison," I only use my phone as a phone. I generally have mobile data actually turned off. I don't participate in social media. So go be a jerk to someone else, rather than making asinine assumptions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @07:43PM
It's a fucking tablet or whatever. It's not some great learning experience.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @09:27PM (1 child)
wait people think $5 and $10 programs are any good?
i paid $5 for... timekiller mastertronic games for my c64! THere were a few good games from them, but the real good stuff cost 8x as much and came from somebody else! everyone knew the difference between something from origin or EA and something from "$5 special".
maybe the problem with society is they think they can get good for cheap or free, because every once in a while, it happens. Then they expect it all the time. Give an inch take a mile.
The problem is that free and cheap pushes the quality companies out of business, because most people won't give their programs a chance because ooh look free is available on the same page.
what you want to do is overcome human nature and actually make an investment. and if there aren't good investments, I think maybe the google environment isn't the environment you should stay locked in to.
im not going to tell you to write it yourself. thats not the answer. but choosing an ad delivery platform as an educational one will only teach you how to be a consumer. and you already have said you feel consumed, so consider your options.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday January 06 2018, @06:14AM
EA games? Commodore 64?
All I remember is how furious I would get as those bastard programmers kept banging the head of my expensive 1541 disk drive against the stop. Over and over and over.
And knocking it out of alignment.
That was one of the main things that got me very interested in reverse engineering and disassembly.
I knew good and well they were screwing up my drive on purpose.
To me, they were like that one guy I knew that kept slamming my car door shut way harder than called for... and I really hated to give him a ride anywhere - I did not want that guy anywhere near my car.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]