Security News > 2021 > May > Data of 100+ million Android users exposed via misconfigured cloud services
Security researchers discovered that personal data of more than 100 million Android users has been exposed due to various misconfigurations of cloud services.
The data was found in unprotected real-time databases used by 23 apps with download counts ranging from 10,000 to 10 million and also includes internal developer resources.
While misconfigured real-time databases are not a surprise, the discovery shows that some Android developers do not follow basic security practices to restrict access to the app's database.
App developers use real-time databases to store data in the cloud and synchronize it in real-time with connected clients.
Check Point researchers found that some of these databases were left unprotected and anyone could access personal information, some of it sensitive, belonging to over 100 million users.
In Screen Recorder, another app on Google Play with over 10 million installations, the researchers found the cloud storage keys that give access to users' screenshots from the device.