Security News > 2020 > April > Thousands of Android apps contain undocumented backdoors, study finds
In March researchers reported that some apps pay a lot of attention to other apps installed on a device, which in theory could be used to gather data on a user's behaviour and inclinations.
The study examined two issues - what proportion of apps exhibited secret behaviours and how these might be used or abused.
Looking at backdoors, both Google Play and apps from alternative app stores such as Baidu showed roughly the same percentage of apps falling into this category, 6.8% and 5.3% respectively.
Interestingly, for pre-installed 'bloatware' apps, the percentage showing this behaviour was double the other sources at around 16%. This finding chimes with a public letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai in January by Privacy International that criticised the way that pre-installed apps are often not scrutinised for privacy and security problems, creating a tempting workaround for surveillance.
Perhaps the biggest consequence from the study is simply how many Google Play apps exhibit these behaviours.