Two file manager apps on the Google Play Store have been found to be spyware, endangering the privacy and security of nearly 1.5 million Android users.
It is repeated quite often on the site, it is better to install only trusted applications on your smartphone. Mobile security company Pradeo has just discovered that two file management apps available on the Google Play Store are sending their users’ data to China, and you may be concerned.
Both applications, “File Recovery and Data Recovery” and “File Manager”, belong to the same developer “Wang Tom”. In total, they have been installed no less than 1.5 million times on Android smartphonesso many users may have been victims of a data leak in recent months.
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Two file manager apps leak your personal data
While these two Android apps seem harmless at first glance, they actually use similar malicious tactics and launch automatically when the device restarts without user intervention.
It is specified on Google Play Store that no data is collected when using apps, but this is actually not the case. Indeed, Pradeo’s analysis engine discovered that various personal information is collected without the knowledge of users.
Among the data retrieved by the developer are your contact lists, media files stored on your smartphone (images, audio files and videos), real-time location, mobile country code, network provider details , SIM provider network code, operating system version, device make and model. This personal data is then exfiltrated to a server located in China.
Note that apps have also been found to request advanced permissions allowing them to restart devices on their own, and even hide their icons, making it difficult for users to delete them. If you use one of them, we can therefore only advise you to uninstall them quickly.
