Latest news with #dangerousApps
Forbes
12 hours ago
- Forbes
Delete All Apps On Your Phone That Are On This List
Why you need to delete these apps. getty It's one of the most outlandish threats facing smartphone users today. Apps that you think make your phone safer and more secure actually put you, your device and your data at risk. Now a new list has been released of apps you should delete. Your smartphone is already at risk from Chinese attacks. That's where the organized criminal gangs behind the plague of unpaid toll and DMV texts are based, outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement, operating at industrial scale with impunity. Forbes Millions More Windows Users Get Microsoft's Free Upgrade Offer By Zak Doffman And Chinese operators are also behind this new list of dangerous apps. Earlier this year, I reported on the warning that a raft of VPNs were secretly sending user data to China. That came courtesy of the Tech Transparency Project (TTP)'s warning that 'millions of Americans are inadvertently sending their internet traffic to Chinese companies — including several tied to the People's Liberation Army" and one blacklisted by the U.S. Those dangerous VPNs which masked their Chinese ownership could be found on both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, operating in something of a grey area and calling into question whether app screening is anywhere near rigorous enough. VPNs route or 'tunnel' all your internet traffic via servers controlled by the VPN operator. This should mask your location and the websites you're accessing from anyone monitoring your local traffic, the VPN server acts as a dead end. But because the VPN receives all your traffic, it is critical that the operator behind the service is trusted and transparent. This is why I advise all users only to use paid VPNs from well-known western brands. No free apps. No Chinese apps. Period. Now TTP is back with a follow-up, a 'spot check' to determine if 'Apple and Google still have a Chinese VPN problem.' TL;DR — yes they do, says the research team. "Apple and Google app stores continue to offer private browsing apps that are surreptitiously owned by Chinese companies," TP warns. 'Chinese-owned VPNs raise serious privacy and security concerns [given] Chinese companies can be forced to share user data with the Chinese government under the country's national security laws." TTP has released a list of '13 China-owned VPN apps identified by TTP that remain available in the Apple App Store' and '11 China-owned VPN apps identified by TTP that are available in the Google Play Store.' Given these are security apps, you should not be using anything Chinese-owned which may send all your data to or even through China — that's very clear-cut. Even if those apps were not masking their ownership, that advice would not change. Here are the apps — if you have any on your phone, you should delete them. Apple App Store: X-VPN - Super VPN & Best Proxy Ostrich VPN - Proxy Master VPN Proxy Master - Super VPN Turbo VPN Private Browser VPNIFY - Unlimited VPN VPN Proxy OvpnSpider WireVPN - Fast VPN & Proxy Now VPN - Best VPN Proxy Speedy Quark VPN - VPN Proxy Best VPN Proxy AppVPN HulaVPN - Best Fast Secure VPN, Wirevpn - Secure & Fast VPN Pearl VPN Google Play Store: Turbo VPN - Secure VPN Proxy VPN Proxy Master - Safer Vpn X-VPN - Private Browser VPN Speedy Quark VPN - VPN Master vpnify - Unlimited VPN Proxy Ostrich VPN - Proxy Unlimited Snap VPN: Super Fast VPN Proxy Signal Secure VPN - Robot VPN VPN Proxy OvpnSpider HulaVPN - Fast Secure VPN VPN Proxy AppVPN Forbes Delete This Message From Apple Or Google—It's An Attack By Zak Doffman There is no suggestion all these apps intercept or monitor user data, albeit that's a clear risk. This warning is based on the nature of VPNs, the geographical location of the developers, China's national security laws and the advice to use blue-chip VPNs. I have reached out to Apple and Google for any comments on the new report.
The Sun
08-05-2025
- The Sun
Google bans 2.3 MILLION apps for phone owners in major crackdown and urges all users to keep ‘protection mode' turned on
Sean Keach, Head of Technology and Science Published: Invalid Date, GOOGLE has revealed a major crackdown on dangerous apps – and says you must check a key setting immediately. The tech giant revealed that it banned more than 2.3 million apps built to "cause you harm". 3 These apps were blocked from the Google Play Store, which is where Android owners usually get their downloads from. Cyber-crooks often try to sneak dangerous apps onto the store in hopes of stealing from innocent victims. They'll use apps to nab your private info, spy on you, empty your bank account, or hold your device to ransom. Now Google says it blocked 158,000 "bad accounts" from trying to publish dangerous apps in 2024. And Google banned millions of apps from going live on the Play Store last year too. "We're continually improving these protections and evolving our policies to ensure safe, high-quality apps on Google Play and to stop bad actors before they can cause you harm," said Google's Suzanne Frey. "In 2024, we prevented 2.36 million policy-violating apps from being published on Google Play. "And banned more than 158,000 bad developer accounts that attempted to publish harmful apps." Google said these apps would feature "digital traps" aimed at unsuspecting victims. And it revealed how the Play Store runs "over 10,000 safety checks" on every single app. Deepfakes more 'sophisticated' and dangerous than ever as AI expert warns of six upgrades that let them trick your eyes PLAY PROTECT Google is also urging Android phone owners to keep the Play Protect setting switched on at all times. It's a special feature that scans the apps on your phone to make sure they're not dodgy. You can find the feature by going into the Google Play Store app. Now tap Profile > Play Protect > Settings and turn on Scan Apps With Play Protect. Google warns: "For security, we recommend that you always keep Google Play Protect on." This feature will run checks on apps before you download them. And it'll warn you about potentially harmful apps – even ones on your device. If there's an especially dangerous app, Google says that the feature can deactivate and even remove it from your device. WHAT CAN GOOGLE PLAY PROTECT DO? Here's the official list of actions it'll take... It runs a safety check on apps from the Google Play Store before you download them. It checks your device for potentially harmful apps from other sources. These harmful apps are sometimes called malware. It warns you about potentially harmful apps. It may deactivate or remove harmful apps from your device. It warns you about detected apps that violate our Unwanted Software Policy by hiding or misrepresenting important information. It sends you privacy alerts about apps that can get user permissions to access your personal information, violating our developer policy. It may reset app permissions to protect your privacy on certain Android versions. It may prevent an application from being installed that is unverified and uses sensitive device permissions that are commonly targeted by scammers to commit financial fraud. Picture Credit: Google You can also set Play Protect up to spot apps that you didn't download from Google's own store. So if you downloaded an app directly – from another store or website – then you can get that scanned too. Just go to the Play Store app, then tap Profile > Play Protect > Settings and turn Improve Harmful App Detection on. Google recently upgraded Play Protect with a special AI feature to become even better at tracking down dodgy apps. 3 "Google Play Protect will use on-device AI to spot apps that might engage in fraud or phishing," Google's Menaka Shroff explained. "This live threat detection will analyze how apps use sensitive permissions and interact with other apps to spot suspicious behavior in real-time. "If Google Play Protect finds something that looks malicious, the app is sent to Google for additional review, and we'll warn users or disable the app if we confirm it's conducting harmful activity." The company said Play Protect is now scanning over 200 billion apps daily. And it's even been able to spot 13 million "malicious apps" targeting Android phone owners that weren't even available through the Play Store. If Google spots a dodgy app on your phone, you should receive a notification. You can then remove the app through the notification – or temporarily disable it. settings you need to look at too.
