Malware in the Amazon App Store

Malware in the Amazon App Store:

http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/208194054/Malware_in_the_Amazon_App_Store

 

What you'll find is a lot of apps that are:
incompatible with your device
built to data mine your information
spam advertisements despite paying for the full/pro edition.
apps asking for too many permissions
apps that don't particularly match what is advertised.

I screen the apps I purchase, and the free app of the day has been quiet useful for getting almost all of the apps that I wanted for free. I love my kindle and feel as if I've got back what I invested into it. I'd imagine a new kindle fire owner would encounter problems if not properly informed. So look at the permissions before you buy, become familiar with app developers that employ such dirty tactics, and watch for future updates because they will change the permissions on you turning a once great app into a data mining whore that no longer performs it's original function. Example, you buy a game ... two updates later the permissions change drastically, and the game quality drops drastically (controls go to ****, graphics decline, advertisements get added to paid/pro versions).

 

From the article:

The traditional definition of malware:

From what is described, those applications don't fit the traditional definition of malware:

----
rich

 

IMO it's splitting hairs to worry about the traditional definition of malware when it comes to phones. And in the technology world, definitions need to be malleable anyway because of the rate of change.

Regardless of formal definitions, these apps do undesired and unauthorized things. There is no legitimate reason whatsoever for an Angry Birds game app (for instance) to require access to all of your contacts. If that game then uses your contacts to send out spam, then that is malicious.

 

The dictionary can say whatever it wants, but that's a very outdated way to describe malware. Malware should be defined as any piece of software/code that does something malicious. If it does something, as Brandi said, unauthorized or even malicious without damage or disruption to a system, it's malware. In the case of the app mentioned in the article, the accurate term would be more along the lines of snake oil. It does absolutely nothing but make the developer cash.