Be Careful Which Mobile Apps You Install

[AmaGold70]

Indeed hackers are coming up with new ways to steal from people and we all should really be careful, I have seen something like this on social media and I thought the poster was just making things up to scare people but now I know better. I had an app that was asking for permission to access my photos and messages even when it had no business with my photos or messages and I didn't read any meaning to it because I was ignorant. Thanks for sharing this @OP, I will make sure to tell others about what is going on around us.

[Royal Cap]

So what will people trust now?
I think that apps that are new and offer premium stuff for free (meaning the apps do not have any ads) are very harmful.
We need to understand that nothing is free in this world.
If we get a service for free, then we need to understand that we are the product of that service.
And I think that even if we use a popular app, we should turn off the gallery, contact, and other permissions of that app from our settings.

[CryptSafe]

Thank you for this update, I have noticed that recently the rate at which apps pop up notifications for permission and access to vital information on one phone is quite questionable. I had to scrutinize my phone and began disabling many apps I permitted because of this. The funniest aspect of it is that some apps that do not require such permission access would be demanding such permission, for what? I noticed this after the last app I downloaded and this made me have to do a little research on the app to see reviews about it on Google Play the response from people who downloaded the app wasn't encouraging and that made me delete the app immediately because of my experience. Some of them come in the form of ads that keep popping and popping and if you are not careful enough, you might download it unknown to you and you will be surprised to see an app on your phone that you do not remember when you downloaded it.

[Pmalek]

And I think that even if we use a popular app, we should turn off the gallery, contact, and other permissions of that app from our settings.

That's not always going to work. What I mean is, the app perhaps won't work if it doesn't have the needed permissions or you won't be able to use some/any of its features for which you installed it. It's very easy to check. Take any of the apps you use on your phone, check what permissions you have given it, and revoke them. Now, open it and see how it goes. Most likely, you will see a notification that the app needs this and that permission to run.

[Cricktor]

Before I install an app I carefully inspect what kind of permissions the app wants to have. Yes, you need some knowledge to properly judge why some permissions are actually needed and why some might be more optional and nice to have (for the app).

If an app requests outrageously many permissions for no apparent reason, I refuse to install it. My life doesn't depend on an app, so I have a choice. Android and iOS got better with time to give users a choice and control over app's permissions. Use it wisely.

Some apps for a certain task are more privacy friendly than others. I try to choose the more privacy friendly alternatives, even if that comes with less features. I also prefer to buy apps if that means, less or no ads and not my data being the currency I pay when an app is "free". (Not much is actually free on the internet, you should've learned by now.)

Don't forget: you have a choice, too!

[ndutndut]

Indeed hackers are coming up with new ways to steal from people and we all should really be careful, I have seen something like this on social media and I thought the poster was just making things up to scare people but now I know better. I had an app that was asking for permission to access my photos and messages even when it had no business with my photos or messages and I didn't read any meaning to it because I was ignorant. Thanks for sharing this @OP, I will make sure to tell others about what is going on around us.

More and more methods are used by fraudsters, so stay alert, don't just download or click on suspicious links. Many fraudsters target you with this APK file if you try to install it. Giving malware APK access to your phone will threaten the security of your banking application, and important data in your asset wallet.

Regarding this type of fraud, when the victim is careless and installs the application, the perpetrator will have access to read and also send SMS. From there, it can spread everywhere. Therefore, before you want to install, you must first know before installing if there is something unclear, just ignore it, it's easy. Basically they target users who don't understand things like that, from here we have to be smarter according to the device, namely smartphones, users must also be smart.

[notocactus]

More and more methods are used by fraudsters, so stay alert, don't just download or click on suspicious links. Many fraudsters target you with this APK file if you try to install it. Giving malware APK access to your phone will threaten the security of your banking application, and important data in your asset wallet.

If downloading and installing applications already listed in an official store is risky and can compromise your devices, it's terrible idea to download APK file and install it on your devices without any prerequiste security test from a store.

APK file is most risky thing to download and install an application on your device, I would like to avoid it not as much as possible, but avoid it completely.

Regarding this type of fraud, when the victim is careless and installs the application, the perpetrator will have access to read and also send SMS. From there, it can spread everywhere.

They are careless but curious and want to explore new cool things but don't know or ignore very basic principle in security. Having this dangerous practice for one time can be well, but maintain this risky practice for a while, you will be punished by scammers and pay very expensive cost.

[I_Anime]

Looks like we already have a thread about that malware: SparkCat Trojan steals personal data from Android and iOS

Apart from these malicious apps, every app we have in our devices act as some kind of spyware which includes Google's official app. For example whenever we search something on the browser we will be shown a product or service related to our search in different approach is just enough proof that we are owning spywares.

Never trust a device that's connected to internet.

Taken our data for their own personal gain, that’s why you will search something online and you will start seeing that same product as ad in your devices especially in app that are meant for shopping / ordering , using it to find ways to peak you interest.

Due to such malicious attacks that’s why I prefer saving my seed phrase on physical materials , keeping it away from online .

[letteredhub]

Discovery by Kaspersky Lab is very worrying and are alarming us to always be careful when downloading mobile apps. It is not good that bad apps can look at our photos for secret codes and collect important information. We should keep in mind that what we allow apps to do and we should not store sensitive information like passwords or codes on our phones or in apps. We should only download apps we need and avoid new ones especially those which are asking for gallery access. It is also good idea to use websites as compare to apps when we can. Staying informed about security risks and protecting our personal information is very important.

There are certain apps that after downloading you would be required to give it a certain extent of permission in your phone if you must have access to most of its features for use. How do you then go about it in such situation? You have no choice but to permit if you really want to use the app for whatever is important to you or you could just do away with it by uninstalling or disable it if you think you can get an alternative like a website to it just as Pmalek advised in the OP.

Sincerely, in most cases we don't have an left option for certain apps we must use when it comes to system permission, and I think it's a deliberate act to monitor what we do, so our gadgets in as much as they're connected online are not even as private to us as we thought, but we just have to be our own security by not storing sensitive information in your phone but having them offline in a safe place.