Study: Google Play Apps Go Beyond Need-to-Know

By John P. Mello Jr.
TechNewsWorld
11/05/12 5:00 AM PT

An analysis of more than 400,000 apps in the Google Play store has revealed that more than 100,000 of them pose a potential security risk to their users.

The analysis of the Android apps released last week by cyber security vendor Bit9 examined the security permissions requested by the programs. It found that 72 percent of the 412,000 programs examined used at least one potentially risky permission -- GPS location data, phone calls or numbers, information on contacts and such.

"We're not saying the apps are carrying viruses or malware, but they do things or have access to things that are questionable for the app that they are," Bit9 CTO Harry Sverdlove told TechNewsWorld.

For example, one wallpaper app in the analysis asks for permission to access a phone's GPS data. Why does the wallpaper app need access to that information?