Emma Woollacott writes:
Nearly ten thousand Android applications give third party apps access to private or sensitive information, says a report from SMobile Systems.
One in five of the 48,000 apps available grants a third party application access to private or sensitive information that an attacker could use for malicious purposes, such as identity theft, mobile banking fraud and corporate espionage.
Five percent have the ability to place a call to any number without requiring user intervention, and two percent allow an application to send premium SMS messages. Eight applications explicitly request a specific permission that would allow the device to brick itself.
Read more on TechEye.net
Updated June 24: Cnet has retracted its coverage/repetition of the claims. Read more on ZDNet, which questions how credible the SMobile report was. DataBreaches.net regrets if it participated in any way in disseminating inaccurate or questionable claims by linking to earlier news reports.