Religious mobile apps are more likely to infect you with malware and spyware, when compared to gambling apps

Dec 17, 2015 12:27 GMT  ·  By

A new study carried out by Proofpoint shows that innocuous-looking apps may sometimes have adverse effects on your mobile device's security, like malware infections or hidden connections to remote servers that allow attackers to extract sensitive information from your phone.

While Proofpoint says that it expected to find gambling apps targeted by cyber-criminals, it was more surprising when it detected similar spyware-like behavior in harmless flashlight apps and even religious applications that did nothing more than serve Bible, Quran, or Torah verses.

Gambling apps aren't as dangerous as initially thought

According to researchers, they've tested 23,000 card game apps (15,013 for Android; 7,991 for iOS) and found that 52 apps contained malicious code, another 379 were deemed "high risk," while another 3,200 had a behavior that Proofpoint deemed of "moderate" risk.

The same analysis was also applied to flashlight apps, and Proofpoint tested 5,600 (Android) apps, finding that 26 contained known malicious code, while another 36 were deemed as "high risk."

The biggest surprise, as the researchers explain it, is that malicious actors did not stay away from religious-themed applications.

Bible apps, the most dangerous of them all

When it came to Bible apps, security researchers tested 5,600 apps (4,154 for Android; 1,500 for iOS), and found that 208 contained malicious code, with another 140 apps classified as "high risk."

Yes, there are more malicious Bible apps than there are poker apps, even percentage-wise. Of the total number of gambling apps scanned, Proofpoint discovered that 0.22% contained malicious code while 3.7% of all Bible apps contained known malicious code. Mind-blowing, right?

Moving to the Quran, Proofpoint analyzed 4,500 apps (3,804 for Android; 646 for iOS), discovering 16 apps with malicious code, and 38 with "high risk" behavior.

There were only 200 Torah apps to scan, but Proofpoint eventually found 2 apps that contained malicious code.

The researchers also analyzed how many outside connections these types of apps create with Internet servers. According to their findings, the analyzed gambling apps opened connections to 1,800 servers across 41 countries, the flashlight apps opened connections to 678 servers across 28 countries, the Bible apps opened connections to 2,500 servers in 42 countries, the Quran apps opened connections to 1,440 servers in 36 countries, and the Torah apps opened connections to 332 servers in 16 different countries.

"The existence - and surprising prevalence - of riskware in apps from gambling programs to the holy books is a valuable reminder of the importance of a mobile app security strategy," concluded Proofpoint researchers. "Clearly, one cannot 'judge a book by its cover.'"

Bible mobile apps statistic
Bible mobile apps statistic

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Bible apps more dangerous than gambling apps
Bible mobile apps statistic
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