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Viruses, Spyware Found in 'Alarming' Number of Android VPN Apps (abc.net.au)

Posted by msmash on from the privacy-woes dept.

When the Federal Court blocked access to file-sharing websites like The Pirate Bay last December, VPN (Virtual Private Network) providers reported a surge in subscription rates. Australian company Vanished VPN said its subscription rates had doubled in the past six months and VPN Unlimited said it had seen a 12.5 percent monthly jump since the court's decision. People were using VPN services to access the blocked sites because they masked their location -- allowing users to get around any website blocks or restrictions. But if you're one of those people, you might want to take a closer look at the service you're using -- especially if you've got an Android device. From a report: A team from CSIRO's Data 61, University of NSW and UC Berkley in the US found a whole bunch of Android VPN apps contain viruses, spyware and other adware. Researchers analyzed the apps available for Android to look for nasties like trojans, spyware and adware -- giving each an "anti-virus rank (AV)" based on what they found. The lower the rank, the better. They found of the 283 apps they analyzed, 38 percent contained malware or malvertising (malicious advertising containing viruses).

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Built in VPN client by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What the article fails to mention is that all those "VPN" apps offer the VPN connection for free, something I think most of slashdot would not assume. And of course, they're certainly not doing it for free out of the goodness of their hearts...

  2. Re:Built in VPN client by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So why don't people just use the built in VPN client?

    Because there may be hundreds of different servers you can connect to?

    My VPN provider (IPVanish) has servers in many different countries, and in the larger ones, they often have 3-4 in various geographic regions. This results in a list of 300-400 servers. So they have an app that helps you manage the list - you log in, pick a server and the app goes and installs a configuration to use the native (they support LLTP, PPTP and OpenVPN) VPN client with the desired server.

    So their app really helps pre-configure the built in client with whatever server you want (helpful if you want to use Netflix or Hulu, since a few of their servers aren't blocked).

    Yes, you can do it yourself, since they give you a list on their webpage, but it's a pain.

  3. Always use OpenVPN by Kludge · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If your VPN service provider does not support OpenVPN, GET ANOTHER SERVICE PROVIDER.
    There is no excuse for not supporting OpenVPN in this day and age.