IS YOUR PRIVACY ILLUMINATED BY ALL THE FLASHLIGHT APPS?

  This is a shady topic that must be address to all Iphone users!

 "The FTC has clamped down on another flashlight apps for doing downloading data for advertisers without informing consumers, and these seemingly innocuous apps are only a small part of the problem. On my phone, several apps want access to information they probably shouldn't, and odds are, that's the case with your phone too. The lesson here is that when it comes to mobile software, there's really no such thing as a free app. But there's a corollary, and it's that this whole world of mobile app privacy is both murkier and more troubling than things are on your computer desktop. "    According to Robert Macmillan from Wired.

It is indeed the case that a number of flashlight apps can and do request access to permissions and data on users’ cell phones that seemingly has nothing to do with the ordinary functioning of the app, and that such permissions could theoretically enable criminals to obtain sensitive personal information from cell phone users. However:

• Having a flashlight app on your cell phone does not necessarily mean someone is stealing your personal data.
• Most customers use the flashlight apps that are natively provided with the Android and iOS operating systems on their smartphones, and those apps pose no security threats.
• Just because an app requests permissions it may not need does not mean the app is being used for nefarious purposes. (Many, many apps request more permissions than they seemingly need.)
• Nothing about flashlight apps makes them inherently more susceptible to criminal exploitation. (Flashlight apps just happen to be one of the most common cell phone apps.)
• Any type of cell phone app could potentially be exploited for stealing personal data (or other nefarious reasons).

Security experts often use free flashlight apps when trying to explain some nuance of mobile security because there are so many of these apps out there, and many of them request far, far more of your personal information than necessary to illuminate a dark room. But this week, Malwarebytes pointed us toward a particularly nasty flashlight app that tries to take control of your phone.

Nefarious Flashlight

When the victim goes to install the flashlight app, it requests superuser access. Malwarebytes told us that the app also comes bundled with multiple rooting libraries. The practical upshot is that when it's installed, the app has far more control over your phone than the average app, or even the average user. Unsurprisingly, the app does not include any warnings—in the app or the stores where it's available—that it will be attempting to gain root access on your phone.

Once it's installed (and in control), the flashlight app goes to work and places shortcuts on the infected device's homescreen. According to Malwarebytes, tapping one of these triggers prompts to install other apps onto your phone. Given their origin, it's safe to assume that these aren't apps you'd want on your phone, either.

"The nefarious flashlight app also takes steps to hide the presence of its app launcher, making it that much harder for users to simply uninstall it." Max Eddie from pcmag.com

This whole thing started as many hysterical things do, when Fox News did a report and brought somebody on from a security company to talk about flashlight apps spying on their users. 

Three of the apps they listed in their report required way too many permissions, including access to your location, which is definitely sketchy. But at least four of the applications that they listed as malware only have permission to access your flashlight, vibration, and access to the Internet (probably to display ads), but can’t access location or SMS or anything else.

RELATED ARTICLE

How to Tell if An Android App is Potentially Dangerous

The fact is that Android app permissions are a mess and you have very little control over what apps can do once you’ve agreed to install the application other than just trusting Google. Your best bet is to avoid installing apps that have permissions that look suspect, or only install apps from really reputable companies.

But that doesn’t mean that all flashlight apps are malware.