In which Google Play categories do apps that aggressively collect information to promote advertising content most often appear, and in which apps that hide malicious code?
The rate of madware (overly aggressive mobile adware) on Google Play is steadily increasing, as 23% of all apps contain aggressive ad libraries, according to a new study by Symantec on the security risks of apps on Google's dominant mobile operating system.
The study presents trends in malware and madware, with the latter category of software referring to applications that aggressively use ad libraries. Ad libraries have the ability to collect information about the user's applications, with the aim of displaying targeted advertisements.
However, some of these libraries can leak personal information or produce annoying activity, such as displaying ads in the notification bar, creating advertising images, or changing bookmarks in Web browsers.
In the first half of 2013, 65 ad libraries were known and more than 50% of them were registered as aggressive. The percentage of apps using aggressive ad libraries has been increasing since 2010, with a year-on-year increase, reaching 23% in the first half of 2013.
According to the study, users should expect the highest percentage of madware when downloading apps from the Personalization category, followed by Utilities & Demo and Racing Games. This contrasts with the presence of malware, which is mostly found in the Photography, Arcade & Action Games and Entertainment categories.
Android malware continues to grow exponentially. From June 2012 to June 2013, the number of known malware groups increased by 69%, while known malware samples increased almost fourfold.
Source: protothema.gr
