Adding to the growing body of evidence that mobile apps have become a considerable security challenge, NowSecure CEO Andrew Hoog told an RSA Conference 2015 audience that of the 62,000 apps his company had tested, 36 percent of them have at least one world readable file and 23 percent have at least one world writable file.
The security pro demonstrated how popular applications like Key.me and Zero Launcher leak GPS coordinates, user identifiers as well as other sensitive information.
Half of the apps in the Google Play Store contain at least one high-risk security privacy flaw, which Hoog attributed to a shortage of skilled security professionals at app development companies. And, despite Apple's reputation to the contrary, Hoog said Apple Store apps were even less secure in large part because developers on the platform have a false sense of security.
