There are close to 250 applications (apps) working on the Android platform that have the potential to make the mobile devices vulnerable to cyber attacks.
As a word of caution, the Computer Emergency Response Team – Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (CERT-ISAC), the organisation involved in managing the National Security Database (NSD), has cautioned Android phone users to check apps before downloading, so as to avoid a possible theft of their personal data, a press release said.
“Know your applications before downloading them otherwise your entire personal data stored in mobile phones could get stolen. There are close to 250 applications on Android phones that are most vulnerable to cyber attacks,” said CERT-ISAC Director Rajasekhar Murthy while inaugurating a CERT-ISAC centre in Mumbai recently. Cyber-attacks on mobile devices have begun to rise in India.
“A total of 91 per cent of mobile users are using Android phones. This is a very disturbing trend because cyber attacks have now shifted to mobile phones,” he said.
Banking applications based on Android phones too are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. “This serious Android vulnerability allows attackers to hide code in a legitimate application and use existing permissions of the app to perform sensitive functions like data theft through such apps,” Mr. Murthy explained. Hence, it was imperative for mobile phone users to perform a customary background check of the app developer before downloading to their mobile phones.
