Roskachestvo experts found dangerous programs on Google Play. TASS reports.
During testing, experts tested 60 applications, the creators of which position them as programs for clearing the memory of a smartphone. “We decided to focus specifically on applications for the Android platform, since the likelihood of encountering low-quality and even fraudulent cleaners in the Google Play Store is much higher than in the AppStore,” the organization said in a statement.
As a result, the most negative aspect when using applications was the excessive amount of advertising. Moreover, the function of disabling the display of advertising banners was found in only four percent of applications. Experts called the intrusive banners potentially dangerous for the user, since they can hide a phishing or malicious page.
About 50 percent of the programs tested had access to Wi-Fi – they analyzed devices connected to the network. “Obviously, an application that cleans RAM and optimizes performance needs a fairly wide range of permissions,” the experts noted. However, experts emphasized that access to a microphone or camera is definitely not required for the program to clear memory.
The most serious suspicions of the authors of the study were caused by the Speed Cleaner – Phone Booster & Battery Saver and Phone Cleaner – Clean Ram & Junk Cleaner & Booster. At the time of this writing, the first had already been removed from Google Play, and an expert complaint by Roskachestvo had been sent to the second in Google.
In conclusion, experts advised users to download applications only from trusted sources – App Store, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery. It is also recommended to pay attention to the evaluation of the program in the store and user reviews, to control the accesses that the application requests. If you have an antivirus, it makes sense to check the downloaded program for infected files.
