Google has removed hundreds of apps from the Play store after they were found to hijack devices for the use of the WireX botnet.
The apps appeared to be normal common apps, providing abilities such as media playback and system resource and storage management. In reality, they would use the device to take part in DDoS attacks against targets online.
Akamai has been credited with discovering ... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
This should have been squared away long ago.......sadly I must say...just like Apple's App Store!
Not an Apple superfan but...they do generally get their shit right the first time with serious backing of common sense.
Android just ditches all common sense and wants money so this at least a step in the right direction...........from a company that proactively mines for your personally identifiable info day in/day out.
Yeah, the whole reason these are so effective is that google does not provide a way to turn off internet for apps that don't need it...because that would decrease add revenue.
I still prefer the google way...I'd rather have the freedom of the android market model than the Apple one, even if it means I have to be careful and use a root app to turn off unnecessary permissions. It sure would be nice if google didn't make us root for such basic things, or at least offered a firewall. Rooting can be a pain on some devices, way out of the reach of the average user...plus it voids the hardware warranty even if you never overclock. Pretty sad when a $80 windows 10 tablet has one up on the most expensive Android phones.
Originally posted by hearme0: Props to Google for doing the right thing!
This should have been squared away long ago.......sadly I must say...just like Apple's App Store!
Not an Apple superfan but...they do generally get their shit right the first time with serious backing of common sense.
Android just ditches all common sense and wants money so this at least a step in the right direction...........from a company that proactively mines for your personally identifiable info day in/day out.
Originally posted by KillerBug: Yeah, the whole reason these are so effective is that google does not provide a way to turn off internet for apps that don't need it...because that would decrease add revenue.
I still prefer the google way...I'd rather have the freedom of the android market model than the Apple one, even if it means I have to be careful and use a root app to turn off unnecessary permissions. It sure would be nice if google didn't make us root for such basic things, or at least offered a firewall. Rooting can be a pain on some devices, way out of the reach of the average user...plus it voids the hardware warranty even if you never overclock. Pretty sad when a $80 windows 10 tablet has one up on the most expensive Android phones.
Part of the reason is that the Play Store is much more open than the App Store. Anyone on any OS can develop for Android for $15 but for iDevices the developer program requires an iMac and is much more locked down. Also, by design, Android is an open platform whereas iDevices are locked down and scrutinized over needed permissions from Apple. It is a case of freedom vs security.
Originally posted by treyjazz: It is a case of freedom vs security.
I'm not a developer, but I don't see it that way. Is it possible to develop for the App Store? Yes. Is it easy to write it for illicit purposes? No. It seems they have struck a good balance don't you think? "Common sense" as another poster put it.
