OMG! 88% of Banking Apps Aren’t Safe to Use – And It Gets Worse
These days we use our phones for everything fun stuff like playing games to serious stuff like banking and going to school. Now, security experts say we’re in big trouble because of security flaws in apps.
The researchers at CyRC, analyzed close to 3500 apps from the Google Play Store. That’s where Android users get the apps for their phones. How do you know if you’re using an Android phone or tablet? Basically, if you aren’t using an iPhone, you’re using Android. Android phones are made by hundreds of manufacturers.
Their scary conclusion? Over 60% of all apps have security flaws. In fact, the average app has 39! That’s right, 39 security vulnerabilities that make it possible to steal your information.
Banking Apps Aren’t Safe
The scariest numbers are for banking, budgeting, and payment apps. A full 88% of banking apps have security flaws. Budgeting apps don’t do much better, 84% have vulnerabilities. If you send money via cash apps, this number should scare you – 80% of payment apps have flaws. Think about it. These are apps that have your banking information, credit card numbers, and sometimes even images of your ID, or SSN.
Almost All Games Affected
The worst offenders are games. Nearly 100% of them have issues. The experts say 96% of top free games have problems. But it’s not just the free games. A full 80% of top paid games have security flaws as well.
But it gets even worse. When it comes to educational apps, 57% of those had flaws as well as 56% of tools for teachers. In fact, educational apps had the worst high-level flaws. Teachers and students have become increasingly dependent on the apps due to virtual schooling during the pandemic.
CyRC found tens of thousands of instances where private information was exposed. They also said that apps require excessive permissions on your phone.
There were 3,000 separate flaws that appeared more than 82,000 times in apps. The study said that 73% of the issues were discovered more than 2 years ago, but the folks behind the apps hadn’t bothered to fix them.
Kids Vulnerable to Predators
These security flaws not only allow access to your private information, but some of them also permit a hacker to take control of your phone and track your location or use it to record video and audio.
There have been troubling cases of predators “ratting” cameras and taking explicit videos of kids. The creeps then blackmail vulnerable children with the images and blackmail them into performing other sexual apps. This is known as sextortion.
The authors of the study say that developers must pay more attention to the security of the apps they create. Until that happens, users should be very careful when installing apps. Look carefully at the permissions you are granting.
If the permission doesn’t make sense, don’t install it. Also, make sure to carefully monitor your bank account and credit cards for transactions. If you can, set up alerts for each transaction.