Report: 83% Of Mobile Apps Are Risky

PRESS RELEASE

LAS VEGAS, Black Hat – July 30, 2013 – Appthority, the authority in App Risk Management, has released its Summer 2013 App Reputation Report to highlight the hidden behaviors of popular free and paid mobile apps. The report examines how the "bring your own device" (BYOD) movement has led to the mixing of personal and corporate data on employee-owned devices, and how the apps we use every day can put that data at risk. The report also shares how some app developers collect data on users as a money-making technique. The full report and infographic can be accessed at https://www.appthority.com/app-reputation-report/infographic0713.html.

Click to tweet: Are paid apps safer than free apps? See @Appthority's infographic on the hidden behaviors of popular apps bit.ly/17Pjom5 #AppSec

The cloud-based, fully automated Appthority App Risk Management Service performed static, dynamic and behavioral app analysis on the 400 most popular free and paid apps on the iOS and Android platforms. Appthority analyzed each app for particular behaviors within a test environment.

Highlights from the App Reputation Report are:

· Overall, 83% of the most popular apps are associated with security risks and privacy issues.

· iOS apps exhibited more risky behaviors than Android apps. 91% of iOS apps exhibit at least one risky behavior, as compared to 80% of Android apps.

· 95% of the top free apps and 77.5% of the top paid apps exhibited at least one risky behavior.

· 78% of the most popular free Android apps identify the user's ID (UDID).

· Even though Apple prohibits its developers from accessing the UDID, 5.5% of the tested iOS apps still do.

· 72% of the top free apps track for the user's location, compared to 41% of paid apps.

· Although paid apps already generate revenue when downloaded, 59% of paid iOS and 24% of paid Android apps still support in-app purchasing.

· Furthermore, 39% of paid iOS and 16% of paid Android apps still share data with ad networks.

"In analyzing both paid and free apps in our report, we've identified several new security trends within the global app ecosystem," said Domingo Guerra, co-founder and president at Appthority. "For instance, we measured how paid apps – like free apps – are now supporting in-app purchasing and sharing data with ad networks as a method of generating revenue, even if it means putting user and corporate data at risk. We also discovered several popular iOS apps that access the unique device identifier (or UDID), even though Apple strictly prohibits that activity because UDIDs can be linked back to the private user information and activity as they navigate across apps."

To schedule a meeting with Appthority at Black Hat USA 2013 (Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV), please email [email protected].

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About Appthority

Appthority provides the industry's first automated App Risk Management service that employs static, dynamic and behavioral analysis to discover the true behavior of apps and measure the total risk within minutes. The company has built the world's largest database of analyzed public and private apps from a global network of sources, enabling organizations to protect corporate privacy and mitigate risks associated with unwanted app behaviors. Named the Most Innovative Company of RSA Conference 2012, Appthority has analyzed over one and a half million apps for its Global 2000 and government customers. Headquartered in San Francisco, Appthority is venture-backed by U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock. More information on Appthority can be found at www.appthority.com.

Appthority name and logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Appthority, Inc in the United States and/or other countries. All other products and/or services referenced are trademarks of their respective companies.