Android App Steals Info and Sends It to China, Researcher Says
A wallpaper app for the Android which collects a user’s information and sends it to a site in China has been downloaded millions of times, according to a researcher with Lookout, a mobile security firm.
Jackeey Wallpaper, available from the Android Market, which offers wallpaper-themes like Star Wars and My Little Pony, collects a user’s phone number, currently entered voicemail number and subscriber identifier, according to Lookout. The data is then sent to a server in China, Kevin MaHaffey, chief technology officer at Lookout, told participants at the Black Hat security conference this week.
While some reports have claimed the siphoned information is being used for nefarious purposes, MaHaffey writes in a blog post that no evidence of that exists.
“While the data this app is accessing is certainly suspicious coming from a wallpaper app, we want to be clear that there is no evidence of malicious behavior,” he writes. “There have been cases in the past where applications are simply a little overzealous in their data gathering practices, but not because of any ill intent.”
Lookout has been working with Google to rectify the problem, according to MaHaffey.
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