4 ms·

> However, our recent analysis found over 90 times more malware from sideloaded sources than on Google Play Google has seemingly never seen an elderly person's

> However, our recent analysis found over 90 times more malware from sideloaded sources than on Google Play Google has seemingly never seen an elderly person's phone, where it is completely infected with crap including literal popup ads (that somehow overlay other apps), yet all of it was downloaded from GPlay.

1970-01-01 6mo ago
100.00% this take. Google is redefining "malware" to fit their corporate narrative so ads-with-ads-with-tracking is labeled as fine wine. It simply cannot be malware because that truth would decimate their shareholders. Malware by any other definition remains software that disrupts the user's ability to operate the device: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/malware https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/malware https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/malware/ https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/malware/ https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/what-is-malware.html https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/what-is-m... https://www.britannica.com/technology/malware https://www.britannica.com/technology/malware https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/malware https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/malware https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/what-is-malware https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/what-is-ma... https://www.mcafee.com/learn/malware/ https://www.mcafee.com/learn/malware/ https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/what-is/malware.html https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/what-is/malware.html https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-help/what-is-malware/ https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-h... https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malware https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malware
- VHRanger 6mo ago
  Remember when we had the term "spyware" for a class of malware? I remember
CobrastanJorji 6mo ago
Both things might be true. Sideloaded apps are probably way more likely to be malicious, but also most installed malware/crapware is quite likely coming from Google Play.
- xigoi 6mo ago
  I’ve never found a malicious app on F-Droid.
  - SkiFire13 6mo ago
    To be honest the limited popularity of F-Droid also helps it be less targetted by bad actors. If it was more popular I would bet the situation would surely be different
    - fsflover 6mo ago
      This argument can be refuted by considering Debian repositories. No malware exists there despite it being a good target. It's the FLOSS that solves the malware problem, with a bit of moderation.
      - fc417fc802 6mo ago
        I'd argue OSS isn't sufficient on its own and that I suspect moderation only plays a small role. I think it's primarily the separation of roles. For a complete outsider whose only interest is exploiting users publishing a sufficiently popular piece of software and also gaining the ability to add things to the debian repos is a huge barrier. You'd have to invest years of work to do both of those things and then hope that no one happened to notice anything before it was too late. Of course the FLOSS aspect adds an additional hurdle that this popular piece of software will have to somehow avoid having much of a contributor community around it since that would greatly increase the risks of your malicious changeset being reviewed. I guess what happened with XZ was about the best case scenario that an attacker could realistically hope for.
      - duckmysick 6mo ago
TiredOfLife 6mo ago
Worst of all is that the ad that leads to that download is usually in Googles Youtube app
badpenny 6mo ago
My recent analysis found that Google is 90 times scummier than other companies. My analysis consisted of pulling a completely baseless number out of my arse that fit my agenda.
Xunjin 6mo ago
Which analysis, where is the data? Where is the independent peer review to conclude what you see is actually real? I'm so tired of companies claiming stuff with "we did research, just trust me bro" and providing no source to be scrutinized.
xnx 6mo ago
"Confirm the accessibility permissions to get $7 SolitaireBux"

1970-01-01 6mo ago

100.00% this take. Google is redefining "malware" to fit their corporate narrative so ads-with-ads-with-tracking is labeled as fine wine. It simply cannot be malware because that truth would decimate their shareholders. Malware by any other definition remains software that disrupts the user's ability to operate the device: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/malware https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/malware https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/malware/ https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/malware/ https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/what-is-malware.html https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/what-is-m... https://www.britannica.com/technology/malware https://www.britannica.com/technology/malware https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/malware https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/malware https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/what-is-malware https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/what-is-ma... https://www.mcafee.com/learn/malware/ https://www.mcafee.com/learn/malware/ https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/what-is/malware.html https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/what-is/malware.html https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-help/what-is-malware/ https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet/the-signal/internet-h... https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malware https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malware

VHRanger 6mo ago
Remember when we had the term "spyware" for a class of malware? I remember

CobrastanJorji 6mo ago

Both things might be true. Sideloaded apps are probably way more likely to be malicious, but also most installed malware/crapware is quite likely coming from Google Play.

xigoi 6mo ago
I’ve never found a malicious app on F-Droid.
- SkiFire13 6mo ago
  To be honest the limited popularity of F-Droid also helps it be less targetted by bad actors. If it was more popular I would bet the situation would surely be different
  - fsflover 6mo ago
    This argument can be refuted by considering Debian repositories. No malware exists there despite it being a good target. It's the FLOSS that solves the malware problem, with a bit of moderation.
    - fc417fc802 6mo ago
      I'd argue OSS isn't sufficient on its own and that I suspect moderation only plays a small role. I think it's primarily the separation of roles. For a complete outsider whose only interest is exploiting users publishing a sufficiently popular piece of software and also gaining the ability to add things to the debian repos is a huge barrier. You'd have to invest years of work to do both of those things and then hope that no one happened to notice anything before it was too late. Of course the FLOSS aspect adds an additional hurdle that this popular piece of software will have to somehow avoid having much of a contributor community around it since that would greatly increase the risks of your malicious changeset being reviewed. I guess what happened with XZ was about the best case scenario that an attacker could realistically hope for.
    - duckmysick 6mo ago

TiredOfLife 6mo ago

Worst of all is that the ad that leads to that download is usually in Googles Youtube app

badpenny 6mo ago

My recent analysis found that Google is 90 times scummier than other companies. My analysis consisted of pulling a completely baseless number out of my arse that fit my agenda.

Xunjin 6mo ago

Which analysis, where is the data? Where is the independent peer review to conclude what you see is actually real? I'm so tired of companies claiming stuff with "we did research, just trust me bro" and providing no source to be scrutinized.

xnx 6mo ago

"Confirm the accessibility permissions to get $7 SolitaireBux"