Russians warned about dangerous permissions for mobile applications

MOSCOW, 17 Oct – PRIME. The permissions that a smartphone user configures when downloading an application can potentially pose a danger, Vyacheslav Demin, director of Cybersecurity Center LLC, warned on Sputnik radio.

According to him, in this way it is possible to collect information about the owner of the device and gain access to the data stored in the phone.

“The most important permission is administrator rights, it essentially gives the application full access to the mobile device and its file system. Read access to internal memory means access to the private storage where the application databases are located. Access to calls and SMS allows application to read the call log and make calls, read and send SMS. Access to contacts allows you to get information about contacts, access to the microphone – to record sound from the microphone, and access to geolocation – to find out the location of the owner of the device, “Dyomin explained.

The expert clarified that attackers most often use popular applications whose developers have made some mistakes.

“Normally, malicious functionality is embedded in popular applications. If software with such permissions is written without errors, then an attacker will not be able to access sensitive information through it. However, if an application has errors, an attacker, using application vulnerabilities, can infiltrate it and steal information from the victim,” he said.

The expert also noted that there are a number of signs that indicate the malicious activity of mobile applications.

“Most often, the malicious activity of the application is hidden behind completely legal ones. But if you notice that you have ads in applications, the phone itself subscribes to paid mailing lists and visits advertising sites, then this is a sign that you have a malicious application. To avoid downloading malware , you need to be careful when downloading applications, pay attention to user reviews, the number of downloads and the publisher’s fame,” Demin said.

To protect the smartphone from malicious applications, he advised using antiviruses.