How Do You Know If an App Is Malicious?
There are many applications that you can download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It is obvious. What’s not so obvious is that while both companies are good at (mostly) finding crappy apps, there are still plenty more hiding out because they’re just balancing scam and near-useless.
Every company’s application review teams are good, but some application developers know the rules well enough to make the most of unsuspecting users. And that brings us to this week’s Tech 911 question from Lifehacker reader Jess . She writes:
“A few months ago, I gifted one of my younger nieces with my iPhone 5S with an upgrade. For the most part, I don’t worry about what applications it downloads because it’s pretty tame in that area. This brings me to my question.
She downloaded an app called Cleanly – Safe Cleaner and I’m concerned that it is meant to steal data and not do something useful. The app exposes itself (literally) as a means to automatically clean up unwanted screenshots and blurry photos, as well as to remove a bunch of other information. Their privacy policy seems to be non-existent, but in fact it is on a different page. To be honest, I feel like I’ve reached a part of my life where I feel like I’m not as tech-savvy as I should, and I need a second opinion to help me (and others like me) sort out the jargon nonsense. applications.
App: The App Store has an age rating of 4+, but the terms and conditions explicitly state that no one is under 18 without explicit consent from an adult. This reinforces my suspicions about the nefarious intentions of this application. Children are less likely to read or notice and therefore willingly refuse additional information. “
So here’s the good news. I cannot find “Pure”, or at least the app you describe by that name, anywhere in the Apple App Store. Perhaps the developer pulled the app, or even Apple itself stepped in and said, “You’re a scam, go away.” To give you a quick and easy answer, I think it is safe to uninstall this app from your niece’s phone. I doubt she will miss it.
In general, your intuition is correct. While I have not used the app myself, and do not want to call something a scam without even seeing it, the general description you provide really raises my eyebrow. I don’t think anyone needs an app to root photos and clean up screenshots — especially since it’s fairly easy to do using the “screenshots” media type in the Photos app. I’d be nervous about assigning additional permissions for my photos to a similar app (and everything else the app wants to do as a condition of its use).
As for the privacy policy, to be honest, I would not use it as a reliable protection against scammers. The app developer can create a privacy policy that makes the app completely safe. The said developer is also under no obligation to abide by the privacy policy – after all, they did, and there is no privacy police from Apple to ensure that the developer is fulfilling their obligations under the deal, as far as your data is concerned (unless there is a large public complaint from a user group).
Obviously, this isn’t a concern when a giant, well-known company has a privacy policy, but even so, I wouldn’t take what you find in them as gospel.
The App Store’s age rating really refers to the content in the app, not its intended use. For example, as part of the application submission process, the developer will have to fill out a short questionnaire that looks like this:
Unsurprisingly, the app you mentioned is probably “designed” for a very young age, as there is little in the app itself that can be considered offensive. And, as mentioned, the age restrictions or other restrictions that are mentioned in the privacy policy of the app do not have real teeth in the App Store. The policy may state that you must be 65 years of age or older to use the app, and any adult who wants to can still download and use it.
Where does it all leave? Unfortunately, the bootloader holds more than anything else in the world. Aside from checking your niece’s phone for crappy apps once a month, the best action you can take is to talk to her. I would give her a few tips to keep in mind when she plans to download apps in the future:
- Think about the purpose of the application. Do you really need it on your phone? Does it do something that you could probably do yourself, such as deleting or organizing data?
- Take a look at the app’s product page. See a lot of spelling mistakes? A grammar that doesn’t make sense? Is there something you don’t like about the screenshots? Maybe you should ignore the app.
- Don’t take app promises at face value. It never hurts to run a quick web search to see if anyone else has viewed, discussed, or used the app you’re about to download. The odds are good that the strange app you find is more likely to be unwanted than a rough diamond.
- Read reviews on the App Store. Is there in the app? If not, be nervous. Does the app have a decent amount of five-star reviews and only five-star reviews that are really weirdly worded? To avoid. Let others help you find out if the app is legal or not, or try to convince you to download it with fake reviews before you download it.
- Consider app permissions. If he wants to access your camera and microphone, but has to help you clear your contact list, this should seem like a very strange request, requiring a little additional research.
- Don’t download apps that are not recommended. When in doubt, this is a great way to avoid fraudulent apps: don’t download something that hasn’t yet been verified by other, more professional organizations: online browsers, your favorite tech websites, Apple itself, etc. The fact that your friend thinks that some weird app that throws stupid things in your face is worth downloading, doesn’t mean you should immediately go to the App Store and download it. A little bit of due diligence can save you future stress and help keep your data private and secure.