Security News > 2021 > February > Security, Privacy Issues Found in Tens of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps
An analysis of 40 COVID-19 contact tracing applications for Android has led to the discovery of numerous security and privacy issues, according to a new research paper.
Contact tracing applications have been created to help authorities automate the process of identifying those who have been in close contact with infected individuals.
Using a newly developed tool called COVIDGuardian, which was designed for both static and dynamic program analysis, academic researchers with universities in Australia and the United Kingdom analyzed 40 worldwide Android contact tracing apps and discovered potential security risks in more than half of them.
COVIDGuardian, an automated security and privacy assessment tool, was used to assess the security performance of the analyzed applications against four categories, namely manifest weaknesses, general security vulnerabilities, data leaks, and malware detection.
The research has revealed that the security of these apps is only slightly influenced by the use of a decentralized architecture, but also the fact that users are more likely to install a contact tracing app that has stronger privacy settings.
The researchers also conducted a survey of more than 370 people regarding the use of contact tracing apps, their concerns, and their preference on centralized or decentralized apps.