We’ve never really liked preinstalled apps on Android phones but now that North Carolina State University researchers have revealed a major flaw in some on-board Android apps, we hate it even more.
The researchers said these vulnerabilities can allow for the sharing of your potentially sensitive information without your permission. Malicious apps could tap into the functionality of pre-installed apps to send text messages or even completely erase all the contents of the handset. Either way, anything being done on your phone without permission should be an issue of serious concern.
The team at NCSU developed a tool called Woodpecker, which analyzes apps for areas that can expose data access privileges to other apps behind the scenes. They used eight Android smartphones from four manufacturers to test for vulnerabilities. The Google Nexus One, Google Nexus S, Motorola Droid, and Motorola Droid X were among the phones that received confirmation of the security flaw from their respective manufacturers. On the other hand, the researchers have found it difficult to report to and get confirmation from HTC and Samsung for their tested devices: the HTC Legend, HTC Evo 4G, HTC Wildfire S, and the Samsung Epic 4G.
It’s certainly not a good week for Android lovers. First came the story of Carrier IQ and its ability to track your every keystroke just yesterday, and now this. Participants in the army of green bots might consider switching over to the live tile lifestyle, eh?
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[via Ars Technica, photo via Shutterstock, \Marko Cerovac]