Security News > 2020 > April > Official Government COVID-19 Apps Hide a Raft of Threats

A rash of COVID-19 Android mobile apps have emerged that are aimed at helping citizens in Iran, Italy and Colombia track symptoms and virus infections.

Researchers analyzed dozens of COVID-19 apps - which continue to emerge with the spread of the coronavirus, paving the way for related security threats across the globe.

In early March in Iran, one of the first places COVID-19 emerged as a serious health threat, the government released an official app, available on an Iranian app store known as CafeBazaar.

In Colombia - another country that's imposed citizen restrictions during the pandemic - the government last month released a well-intended mobile app called CoronApp-Colombia on Google Play to help people track potential COVID-19 symptoms.

Researchers advised governments with COVID-19-related apps or those thinking about releasing new ones to "Ensure consistency with where COVID-19 mobile apps are able to be downloaded, and even with their appearance," to help avoid the spread of malicious doppelgangers.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/official-government-covid-19-apps-threats/154512/