Web User - UK (2019-12-27)

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40 27 Dec2019 -7Jan 2020

Don’tcomprom

isethe

security

,privacy or

performa

nce

of your

phoneort

ablet. Wa

yneWilli

ams highl

ightsthe

dodgiest

must-dit

ch apps

forAnd

roid and

iOSand

suggests

what to

useinste

ad

T

here have beenlots of newsstoriesoverthe las tyear

urgingsmartphone userstouninstalldangerousapps

becauseofthe security andprivacyriskstheypose.

In Octoberalone,ESETdiscovered42appsinthe Google

Play storethatcontained adware (bit.ly/eset491), whilea

‘clicker Trojan’was foundin 17 iOSappsinthe AppleApp

Store(bit.ly/clickware488). Amonthlater, 10 supposed

antivirusappsfor Androidwerefoundto contain

“dangerous malware, spywareandquestionable

permissions” (bit.ly/antivirus491). Truly, 2019 hasbeenan

app-ocalypticyear!

However, it’s notonlyappsloadedwithmalware that

youneedto look outforbut those that require

unnecessarypermissions, drainresourcesonyourphone

or tablet,and bombardyou with adsand nagstomake

in-app purchases.Inthis feature,wename andshame the

worstoffenders thatyou mayhaveinstalled orbe thinking

of ins talling,andrecommendwhattouse ins tead in 2020.

COVER

FEAT

URE