“If you only knew the power of the Dark Side.” Those ominous words spoken by Darth Vader seem have finally set off a light bulb in more than a few shady app developers.
As more and more people purchase smartphones (and the apps that run on them) the opportunity for those on the dark side keeps growing. One key area for these unscrupulous devs can strike is the financial sector. Financial apps have been a key selling point for smartphones, with the ability to manage your funds at your finger tips, the power that they give you really is great.
Enter one developer named “09Droid.” Last December Google pulled dozens of unauthorized mobile-banking apps from their Android Market. These apps, priced cheaply at $1.50, were more useless than useful and claimed to offer access to accounts at many of the world’s banks. However, when asked about the situation, Google claims it pulled them because they violated its trademark policy. While nothing bad happened here, the apps could’ve easily been updated to capture customers’ banking information, said John Hering, chief exec of Lookout, a mobile security provider.
Frankly, I’m surprised it took the devs this long to figure this out. Thankfully Google (Like Obi-Wan Kenobi) will be with us, always.
[via WSJ]
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