6 In 10 Of Financial Apps On Google Play Store Are Exposed to Application Repackaging Attacks While Some Have Already Been Repacked

A new study from App Security Engine, Promon, reveals that 61% of the financial apps on Google Play Store are easily exposed to application repackaging means they can be cloned easily. It is because of the rise in customers who are interested in using online banking apps. Application Repackaging is the theft in which criminals are enabled to add their code to the source code on the existing software of the app. This lets those criminals change the functions of the app according to their own will. They repackage the app and when users use it, their data gets hacked. The login information of the users can also get stolen.

According to the analysis of 384 financial apps on Google Play including banking, cryptocurrency, and trading apps, 236 were exposed to application repackaging. 154 of them were banking apps. According to the data of the 92 most downloaded financial services apps, half of them were already repackaged. This has raised alarming bells in the heads of authorities because if this keeps on happening, there is a chance many people will lose their data. The banking details can also get hacked and as a result, the money of the users can get stolen.

This application repackaging is happening at the same pace across many regions. For instance, in the US out of the 54 most popular banking apps, 37 were modified and repackaged. Similarly, in the UK, 45 out of 74 most popular apps were repacked. In India, there is a high chance that 47 out of 69 apps can be repacked. To know more about the cause of this repackaging on these apps, it is important to know what factor is common between these apps.

Premon also made a report on it. According to this security region, the apps which were repacked and the ones that are exposed to repackaging don't have special tools to detect repackaging attacks. That's what these apps have in common. Benjamin Adolphi, a software engineer at Promon who led this study says that the interference of Apk files should be concerning for android users who want to just manage their finances, but are worried if the apps on Google Play are usable or not. Any further study about this problem is yet to be disclosed. All we can do is keep an eye on any possible solutions which can keep us safe from the apps exposed to repackaging.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World