Consultation outcome

Literature review on security and privacy policies in apps and app stores

Updated 9 December 2022

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

This literature review was carried out by:

Prof. Steven Furnell

School of Computer Science

University of Nottingham

17 February 2021

Executive summary

This report investigates issues of cyber security and privacy in relation to apps and app stores. The objective of the review is to provide recommendations for improving the security of applications (apps) delivered via app stores, and to identify issues that may be of relevance to DCMS’s future work on the cyber security in these contexts. Specific attention was given towards app stores and apps intended for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The current mobile app marketplace is focused around two main app ecosystems – Android and iOS – and there are a range of app store sources from which users can install apps. These include official app stores from the platform providers, as well as a range of further stores offered by device manufacturers and other third parties. While the underlying objective of all stores is the same, in terms of offering the distribution channel for the hosted apps, they can vary considerably in terms of their associated security and privacy provisions. This includes both the guidance and controls provided to safeguard app users, as well as the policies and procedures in place to guide and review developer activities.

Evidence suggests that many users have concerns regarding the ability to trust apps and their associated use of data. As such, they find themselves very much reliant upon the processes put in place by app stores to check the credibility of the apps they host. In reality, however, practices vary significantly across providers – ranging from stores having clear review processes and attempting to ensure that developers communicate the ways in which their apps collect and use user data, through to situations in which apps are made available in spite of having known characteristics that could put users’ devices and data at risk.

When it comes to supporting users, this review reveals that the app stores have varying approaches with correspondingly variable levels of information and clarity. This is observed in terms of both the presence and content of related policies, as well as in relation to supporting users’ understanding when downloading specific apps. The latter is particularly notable in terms of the presence and clarity of messaging about app permissions and handling of personal data, with some stores providing fairly extensive details and others providing nothing that most users would find meaningful.

There are also notable variations in how different app stores guide and support app developers, including the level of expectation that appears to be placed upon providing safe and reliable apps, that incorporate appropriate protections and behaviours in relation to users’ personal data. While some stores include formal review and screening processes, and scan apps to prevent malware, others offer a more permissive environment that enables threats and risky app behaviours to pass through without identification.

Linked to their stance on maintaining security and resolving issues, the larger providers support vulnerability reporting and offer bug bounty schemes. The latter incentivise the responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities rather than allowing them to persist and risking their exploitation in malicious activities. The large rewards available through these schemes is in notable contrast with other app store environments, where such provisions are not offered.

The discussion also gives specific attention to malicious and risky behaviours that can be exhibited by apps, with overall evidence suggesting that the problem is on the increase and that Android users are the most exposed to the risks. This underlying evidence includes clear examples of apps that are overtly malicious (representing traditional malware categories such as viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware), as well as apps whose behaviour (while not directly hostile) could be regarded as risky through factors such as requesting excessive permissions or leading to data leakage.

A series of recommendations are made in relation to operating app stores, guiding developers and supporting users:

• Ensuring a more credible and consistent level of information to app store users and app developers regarding security and privacy provisions and expectations, supported by mechanisms to enable more informed decisions and control over the apps that are installed.

• Increasing the opportunity and expectation for app developers to learn and adopt appropriate security- and privacy-aware practices.

• Increasing the efforts to raise user awareness of app security and privacy risks, and supporting this with better communication of the issues within apps and app stores.

This in turn could lead to initiatives across the app store ecosystem more widely, including a community-adopted code of practice in order to support responsible app development and resulting confidence among users.

The summary is supported by extensive reference to sources, encompassing both relevant research and findings, and recent developments in the app sector. It should be noted that the review was completed in early 2021 and therefore further research could have been published that may further inform this topic.

1. Introduction

This literature review was conducted as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s (DCMS) ongoing work to improve the cyber security of digital technologies used by UK consumers. Applications and app stores were identified as a priority area for this work because vulnerabilities, such as malicious apps being allowed on platforms, continue to be found, putting consumers’ data and security at risk.

The objectives of the literature review are:

• To set out recommendations for improving the security of applications (apps) delivered via app stores. This should also include apps that led to security issues but had made it through the review process and were available on an app store.

• To outline common themes and any case studies that may be of particular interest to DCMS’s future work on the cyber security of apps and app stores.

1.1 Scope and focus

The review considers issues from the perspective of three distinct stakeholder groups:

• The app user (i.e. the consumer from the app stores)

• The developer (i.e. the individual or development house responsible for authoring the app content)

• The app store provider (i.e. the owner/controller of the channel by which apps are made available)

There are related security considerations in the context of each group. In summary, and in an ideal situation, the user has an interest in using trusted apps, and the developer and store provider have an interest in supporting this. However, the strength and extent of this interest amongst each of the parties serves to inform the opportunity for circumvention and misuse. Related to this, there is of course a further perspective to be considered in terms of ‘attackers’, who seek to use apps as a means of conducting malicious activity (e.g. data or financial theft). The most worrisome context is when the attacker is also the developer^{[footnote 1]}, and is thereby seeking to use the app store as the means by which to reach users/devices/data as the intended target.

It should also be noted that any review of security-related aspects in apps and app stores quickly becomes somewhat entangled with some related issues around privacy. While the two topics are not synonymous, there is a definite overlap in the context of app-focused security because there is commonly a link to privacy aspects. For example, malicious or risky app behaviour typically has a privacy impact in terms of affecting (e.g. stealing, exposing and/or disrupting) the user’s personal data. Similarly, the good practice that ought to be followed by developers and app stores in terms of maintaining security often has a privacy-related rationale to underpin it (i.e. the app needs to be appropriately secure in order to safeguard the user’s data). Alongside this, the user perception of the overall suitability and safety of a given app is typically based upon a personal interpretation that takes a somewhat homogenised view of the two issues. In view of these overlaps and intersections, the review also encompasses a variety of topics and sources that include the privacy perspective as a related theme.

1.2 Structure

The report is structured thematically, with attention given to aspects relating to each of the stakeholder groups, as well as specific consideration of malicious and risky app behaviours.

Section 2 opens the main discussion with scene-setting on the notion of the app store as a channel for software distribution and introducing the range of different stores that are present in the overall market.

Section 3 is focused upon the user perspective, beginning with issues around user trust and concerns in relation to app usage, and then looking at how users are supported (in terms of provision of privacy and security related information) in different app store contexts. Brief attention is also given to how users can essentially support themselves via community insights through provision and use of app ratings.

The discussion in section 4 is then directed toward the developer perspective. This specifically highlights the need for related guidance that addresses the developer audience, followed by consideration of the extent to which such guidance and support is provided to them via the various app store platforms.

Even with effective developer guidance, there is potential for the discovery of vulnerabilities (in both apps and host platforms) that could lead to resultant exploitation by attackers and malware. With this in mind, section 5 briefly examines the mechanisms that providers have in place to enable vulnerability reporting and the degree to which this may be incentivised.

Following on from vulnerabilities that may potentially be exploited, the penultimate section presents an overview of actual threats that can be faced in terms of app-based malware and other risky behaviour. This considers the nature of the threats (including illustrative examples), as well as the facilities provided to support detection at both the app store and endpoint levels.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations in relation to app providers, developers and users, as well as a number of cross-cutting ideas that would address multiple stakeholder groups.

1.3 Methodology

The review was primarily focused upon apps and app stores in the context of smartphone and tablet devices (with the interpretation of ‘app stores’ including both official app stores from Apple, Google, and others such as Huawei, as well as third-party stores). It was intended to encompass app-related threats and the measures used by app stores in order to minimise risk. It should be noted that the study did not consider what other governments are already doing in this space in terms of existing or emerging policies and recommendations.

The review was conducted via online, and primary search terms used to constrain the search were ‘app’ and ‘app store’, as well as platform-specific terms such as ‘Android’ and ‘iOS’/ ‘iPadOS’. These were combined with secondary terms to seek examples of issues and concerns:

• Security issues and concerns, e.g.: ‘threat’, ‘risk’, ‘breach’, ‘hack’, ‘malicious’, ‘malware’, ‘Trojan’, ‘ransomware’, ‘spyware’, ‘worm’, ‘virus’, ‘vulnerability’
• Security measures and safeguards, e.g.: ‘security’, ‘protection’, ‘privacy’, ‘data privacy’, ‘verification’

Further tertiary terms were then used to locate literature relating to existing guidance and approaches:

• ‘framework’, ‘guidelines’, ‘recommendations’, ‘app development’, ‘regulation’
• “review”, “security checks”, “permissions” to identify literature regarding the vetting process of applications

As such, examples of resulting search strings included combinations such as ‘“app store” Security’, ‘iOS security breach’, ‘Android malware’ and ‘app security guidelines’. It was not intended (or necessary) to use all combinations of terms exhaustively, as many permutations tended to lead to the same sources in practice.

The searches were applied in a number of contexts:

• General web search – in addition to reports and studies, this route will also deliver results relating to media coverage of reported incidents (which can potentially be used as case examples);
• Academic search tools and publisher repositories (e.g. Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and Scopus)

Depending upon the extent to which they were already represented within the general web search findings, additional searches were also targeted toward materials offered by security vendors and analysts, and the App Store providers themselves.

In order to ensure relevance and currency, the review had a cut-off at 2016. Older sources were not included unless they were considered particularly relevant, or influential in guiding later developments.

It should be noted that the scope of the study (and length constraints of the report) did not allow for an exhaustive assessment of all app store environments, and there was a lack of existing data that specifically examines recommendations or makes assessments on app stores’ policies. There were similar practical limits on the extent to which the selected stores could be assessed (e.g. due to the extent of information openly available on public sites). However, the resulting sample is nonetheless considered sufficient to highlight a range of approaches and some key practical differences between them.

As mentioned, the focus was intentionally directed toward app stores relating to smartphones and tablets. It is fully acknowledged that app stores also exist in other contexts, but most of the literature retrieved at the time of the review was clearly framed from the perspective of mobile platforms. As such, it was considered appropriate to place the focus here, with these stores being judged to be illustrative of the primary examples of practice.

In terms of quality assurance, the approach was confirmed at several stages, with interim checkpoints and review of materials by Ipsos MORI, DCMS and NCSC representatives at key points during the process.

2. Background

The use of app stores is increasingly becoming the standard route for installing and maintaining software across multiple device types (including personal computers, mobile devices, and other connected technologies such as smart TVs and watches). In addition to enabling a simplified means of locating, purchasing and downloading software, a suitably managed app store has the potential to be regarded as a trusted channel (as opposed to other routes by which users may install apps onto their devices, such as sideloading^{[footnote 2]}).

This report specifically considers apps and app stores for smartphone and tablet devices, which essentially places the focus upon Android and iOS/iPadOS platforms^{[footnote 3]}. While there was previously a dedicated app store for Windows Mobile devices, support for Windows 10 Mobile ended in January 2020, and as of October 2020 it accounted for just 0.03% of the worldwide market share for mobile operating systems^{[footnote 4]}. Additionally, while other examples of app stores exist for other device types (e.g. the Windows Store and Mac App Store for Windows and macOS devices), they are out of scope for this particular study as this would introduce too many avenues to explore within a single investigation. However, further studies may be conducted later as part of DCMS’s focus on building a wider evidence base.

2.1 Operating systems platforms

Before looking at the specifics of the apps and app stores, it is relevant to consider the extent to which devices in the different ecosystems are using the latest versions of the operating systems. The latest versions are expected to be the most advanced and refined in terms of security provisions, and the extent to which devices are using these versions forms a backdrop against which malicious apps might find vulnerable targets.

Given that the combined worldwide market share of Android and iOS now accounts for almost 99% of smartphone devices, it is most relevant to consider the position in these two contexts^{[footnote 5]}. Historically there has been a notable difference in the stance each takes to user privacy and security – in summary the difference has been characterised as Apple aiming for security ‘whatever it takes’ versus Google aiming for things to be ‘secure enough’^{[footnote 6]}. In saying this, it should also be noted that they are positioned differently in the first place, as while both have full control over their own operating systems, Apple also has full control over where the operating system is used (as the sole manufacturer of devices that use it). By contrast, Google (while also producing its own range of devices) licences Android to a host of other manufacturers, who can then deploy and maintain it in endpoint devices in different ways (the fact that Android is open source means that OEMs can operate independently of Google if they choose to).

It is recognised that Apple’s control of the entire platform (i.e. the device and operating system) means that the majority of users receive and install software updates and security patches. Figures from Apple (based on June 2020) report that 81% of active iOS devices have the latest version of the operating system installed, rising to 92% if considering devices introduced in the last four years^{[footnote 7]}. Only 6% of devices were reported as using a version of the OS that was more than one generation older than the current one.

The situation with Android is more complicated, primarily because the device and OS can come from different sources, and manufacturers vary in their pace of adopting new versions, and whether they roll out updates for older devices. Google no longer publishes details of the percentage of devices running different Android versions, but the situation has historically been significantly more fragmented than with iOS. For example, in September 2018 the picture was as shown in Figure 1^{[footnote 8]}. This was a month after the release of Android 9 (Pie), and so its install base accounted for only 0.1% of devices. However, even the prior version (Oreo), which had been around for over a year, was only on 15% of devices. The remaining devices were all running earlier versions, with 13% running OS versions that were over four years old.

Figure 1 : Fragmentation of the Android versions in use in Sept. 2018

The significance of this is that iOS apps are generally running on a much stronger foundation, whereas Android users can find themselves operating across a wider diversity of versions. From a positive perspective, Google’s approach has changed in more recent years, moving the focus of security features from Android to sit within Google Play Services. The consequence is that updates and enhancements can be issued regardless of the OS version on the user’s device3. Nonetheless, the more diverse environment still has potential implications from the perspective of the persistence of known vulnerabilities, which may in turn be exploited by malware (a theme explored in section 6).

2.2 Types of app store

In both of the target operating systems, there are top-level distinctions to be drawn between official and third-party app stores. The key difference is that the official app stores are controlled by the operating system providers (i.e. Apple in the case of iOS and Google for Android), whereas the third-party stores (such as Aptoide, Cydia and GetJar) are not^{[footnote 9]}. This can be seen as advantageous by app developers and users. The former may find themselves able to launch apps with less restriction than through the official stores (which can include the release of apps that official stores would not accept on the ground of content or functionality), as well as having advantages in terms of visibility and economics (e.g. their apps may receive more prominence or exposure, or they may find the app store’s cost model is more to their liking^{[footnote 10]}). They may also find that third-party stores offer a faster route to market, thanks to the lack of rigorous review processes that are applied by the official stores. Similarly, users may consider that third party stores broaden their choice of apps or make them available on better terms. Notably, for users in some countries, this can include whether the official store is available to them at all (e.g. at the time of writing Google’s Play Store is not available in China^{[footnote 11]}, which means that the market is exclusively available to third-party stores^{[footnote 12]}).

There are also cases where, even though the official store is available, individual apps are not equally available in all countries – in some cases because the rollout is being phased, in others because the app is not planned to be released there at all. If a given app is particularly popular, this may lead users to seek it out via other routes. A good example here is the popular game Fortnite, which was removed from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store as a result of its developer, Epic Games, introducing a payment mechanism that bypassed the normal revenue sharing with the host app store. As a result, would-be players were forced to find other stores that were still hosting the game^{[footnote 13]}. In other cases, users may look to third-party stores to find free versions of what would normally be paid-for apps. In both of these scenarios, the resulting apps will have been placed in the third-party store in an unofficial (and unauthorised) manner, and carry the risk that they may also have been tampered with in order to introduce unexpected and unwanted functionality (which links to the topic of malware, discussed later in this report).

In summary, third-party stores can be considered to offer both the developer and the user a marketplace that is more accessible and offers more freedom. At the same time, however, the same openness and lack of restriction can introduce issues from the perspective of security and privacy.

To avoid potential ambiguity, there is also a distinction to be made at the level of the apps themselves. Third-party apps are any that come from developers other than the manufacturer, and so third-party apps may be offered via the official app stores. As such, if we wanted to generate a broad hierarchy of what we might expect to trust based on the scrutiny that the manufacturer would be expected to have provided, then it would be as follows:

1.First party apps, pre-installed on the device (also known as native apps)

2.First party apps via official app store

3.Third-party apps via official app store

4.Third-party apps via third-party app store

This is in no way intended to suggest that all third-party apps from third-party stores are inherently risky, but this is the one category in which the parent operating system provider will have had no input or oversight into what is being offered.

There are also potential differences in the provenance of third-party stores, with some coming from other ‘big name’ sources (e.g. device manufacturers offer app stores to support their range of devices, which users of that brand would be likely to place on the same trust footing as official stores), while others are entirely independent players.

2.3 Android app stores

App Stores for Android devices are available from a variety of providers, including:

● Google Play Store, the app store from Google, the provider of the Android OS.

● Device vendor / manufacturer app stores that are preinstalled on their own devices. Examples here are Samsung’s Galaxy Store and Huawei’s AppGallery^{[footnote 14]}.

● Third-party app stores, where there are numerous stores from a range of providers (examples that are considered later in the report are Aptoide, F-Droid and GetJar).

While the apps to support the official and/or manufacturer stores come preinstalled, to get access to the third party stores the user must firstly install the related store’s app onto their device. This in itself can present them with considerations from the security perspective. Looking at the example in Figure 2 (from the Lithuanian-originated GetJar app store^{[footnote 15]}), the first thing the user is guided to do (in order to install the app that gives access to the app store) is to go into their security settings and permit the device to allow the installation of apps from unknown sources. As such, it does not send a positive security message from the outset. Nonetheless, while it remains the official store, Google does not seek to prevent access to such rival routes, and third-party stores are an accepted and expected part of the overall Android app ecosystem.

Figure 2 : Example of instructions for installing an app to allow access to a third-party store

2.4 iOS app stores

The situation for Apple devices is notably different, with Apple’s own App Store being the only authorised source (and pre-installed on the related devices). By controlling the channel and maintaining a so-called ‘walled garden’ approach, Apple is then able to exercise control over both who develops for their platform and the apps that are released on it. Developers are required to be registered in order to publish their apps through the App Store, and this status can be revoked if it is being misused in order to produce apps that do not meet the required standards in terms of content and behaviour. Adherence to these standards is monitored and enforced through a formal review process for the apps themselves, which they must pass before being admitted to the App Store and made available to users.

However, while the official App Store is consequently the only app installation route for the vast majority of iOS users, there are means by which apps can be installed by other routes. Specifically, apps can only be installed from other sources if:

● the device is jailbroken^{[footnote 16]} in order to bypass Apple’s controls, which violates the end-user licence agreement and compromises the security of the platform, leaving the user more exposed to vulnerabilities.

● the user installs a configuration profile^{[footnote 17]} which then enables apps to be downloaded from an associated App Store. There are a multitude of iOS app installers that offer a means of getting content onto devices (examples of which include AppValley, Asterix, CokerNutX, iOSEmus, iPA4iOS and TutuApp), all of which initially require the installation of a configuration profile to open the door to their content.

The latter is essentially subverting a legitimate route that Apple offers to enable apps to be distributed outside of the App Store, and thereby outside of the associated review process. Specifically, the Apple Developer Enterprise Program enables in-house apps to be developed and deployed by large organisations for internal use^{[footnote 18]}. There are various eligibility criteria (including that the resulting apps are only available for internal use by employees), and achieving membership is contingent upon an application and verification process, plus payment of an annual membership fee of 299 USD (or local equivalent). Apps can then be distributed via the organisation’s internal systems or via a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. So, as a consequence, the developer/organisation to whom the licence is granted is ‘reviewed’ (via Apple’s verification interview and continuous evaluation process), but their app software is not. However, this process can still lead to revocation of the developer’s certificate if it is found to be misused (as was the case with Facebook in January 2019, when it was discovered to have publicly released a research app developed under its Enterprise licence^{[footnote 19]}).

Unfortunately, in spite of the safeguards that appear to be in place via verification and evaluation of developers, the enterprise app route has proven to be a channel for malicious activity. For example, findings from Check Point have shown that devices can end up with apps from multiple sources with varying levels of reputation. Specifically, they outline an investigation of ~5,000 devices in a Fortune 100 company, which revealed a total of 318 unique enterprise apps having been installed, from 116 unique enterprise developer certificates. Of these, only 11 certificates were linked to ‘whitelisted’ developers with positive track records, while 33 had no prior reputation and 2 certificates were compromised. The study concluded that “Non-jailbroken devices are exposed to attacks by a malicious actor using bogus enterprise apps”, with the end-user’s judgement over whether to install the apps then being the main element standing between them and exposure^{[footnote 20]}.

Getting the app installer onto the device creates a similar situation to that outlined with Android, as the user is guided to instruct their device to accept content from an untrusted source. Using as an example, the installation guidance for TutuApp, it requires the users to download and install a configuration profile, which enables the TutuApp installer app to be installed to their device^{[footnote 21]}. However, actually running it leads to a dialogue such as Figure 3, requiring the user to follow further steps to trust the app in their device/profile settings.

Figure 3 : iOS dialogue asking the user to trust an unknown developer

2.5 Examples explored in this study

Given the myriad app stores that can be identified in practice (totalling over 300 at the time of writing^{[footnote 22]}), it is not feasible for the report to consider each and every case. As such, the discussion is focused on a comparison between the official stores for each of the target operating systems (i.e., the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store), alongside suitably illustrative third-party examples (e.g., Aptoide and GetJar as larger third-party Android stores, each with hundreds of thousands of available apps - and F-Droid as an example of a smaller store, with a few thousand apps on offer). In addition, the Huawei AppGallery is included as an illustration of a manufacturer-specific app store, and is considered to be a particularly relevant example given its potential role as a substitute for the Google Play Store in the Chinese market.

3. The user perspective

3.1 User attitudes towards apps

The ability to trust apps, or concern about not being able to do so, are factors of relevance for many users. However, there often tend to be contradictions in terms of users’ claimed concerns and their actual behaviour. For example, when directly asked to consider issues around privacy, users commonly cite concerns about granting access permissions to apps as being an influential factor (with findings suggesting that this aspect has twice as much predictive value in explaining privacy concerns as other factors, including prior experiences and perceived control over their information^{[footnote 23]}). In practice, however, it has been long recognised that users may pay little attention to the permissions that apps request, and may have difficulty understanding what is being requested if they try to do so.

Further survey findings from 1,300 adult smartphone users (across six countries) conducted for Thales in mid-2016 revealed that security and privacy concerns relating to apps and malware collectively accounted for a fifth of the respondents’ greatest fears about the smartphone and apps, as listed in Table 1 (noting that a further 37.3% collectively expressed concerns around fraud, phishing and hacking of online bank accounts)^{[footnote 24]}. As an aside, the single biggest fear (accounting for almost a third of overall responses) was loss of data if the smartphone was lost or stolen, which suggests a need to consider the oft-overlooked safeguard of backup.

I worry about…	% concerned
App obtains personal information from permissions I gave it	6.5%
Virus infecting my phone and all my apps	5.8%
Getting malware when connecting to free Wi-Fi	4.3%
Apps collecting personal data from another app	1.9%
Ransomware attacks locking access to my phone	1.2%
Total app and malware-related concerns	19.7%

The National Cyber Security Alliance also indicate variations in how users claim to safeguard themselves when downloading apps^{[footnote 25]}. From a survey of 1,000 users (equally split between young adults aged 18-34, and older respondents aged 50-75), the overall findings suggested that 42% do not check what information an app collects before downloading it, and the same percentage are prepared to download from untrusted sources. There were, however, some notable differences between users based on age. The younger group was found to be more likely to check on what information an app collects (with almost three quarters claiming to do so, compared to less than half of the older group), whereas the older respondents were more inclined to restrict their downloads to trusted sources (with two thirds indicating this, compared to slightly less than half of young adults).

Looking from the privacy perspective, users have historically expressed concerns about the monitoring capabilities of mobile apps. For example, according to findings from Kaspersky in 2017, 61% of users were uncomfortable with sharing location information with apps, and 56% were concerned that someone could see their device activities^{[footnote 26]}. It will be interesting to reflect in the coming years whether attitudes to location sharing have changed as a result of the broader acceptance of such features through COVID-19 contact tracing apps.

3.2 App store information for users

If considering the efforts to cultivate an overall trusted environment or ecosystem, then it is relevant to consider what the app stores say to users in terms of privacy and security in relation to the app store itself.

3.2.1 Apple iOS app store

The information that Apple presents to users under the ‘Principles and Practices’ merits direct inclusion here, as it illustrates how the issues of trust, security and privacy are placed front and centre in the marketing of the App Store^{[footnote 27]}:

“We created the App Store with two goals in mind: that it be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers. We take responsibility for ensuring that apps are held to a high standard of privacy, security and content because nothing is more important than maintaining the trust of our users.…It’s our store. And we take responsibility for everything on it”

3.2.2 Google Play store

The Play Store website does not make any cognate claims in relation to the security or safety of the store environment or the apps within it. The closest related information is a link to Google’s overall privacy policy. This is presented in fairly readable terms, and ought to give users a reasonable sense of what Google collects about them and their use of its services. While little of the content is specifically limited to apps, there are some related points, such as the following^{[footnote 28]}:

“We collect information about the apps, browsers, and devices you use to access Google services, which helps us provide features like automatic product updates and dimming your screen if your battery runs low. The information we collect includes unique identifiers, browser type and settings, device type and settings, operating system, mobile network information including carrier name and phone number, and application version number. We also collect information about the interaction of your apps, browsers, and devices with our services, including IP address, crash reports, system activity, and the date, time, and referrer URL of your request.”

As such, while this is providing a factual statement around the collection and use of information, it is not providing a direct assurance of privacy and security in the manner that Apple’s text attempts to do.

3.2.3 Huawei AppGallery

As with the Play Store, the AppGallery website does not have any general customer-facing information to describe the stance on security and protection, and again the only related reference is the privacy policy link at the foot of the page. However, while the Play Store had a fairly readable text, it is questionable whether the majority of AppGallery users would be able to meaningfully interpret much of what is being said. For example, in describing ‘What Data Do We Collect About you’ it is stated that the AppGallery service collects and processes a variety of information, relating to the device, network, browser and service usage^{[footnote 29]}. The description of what is collected uses a variety of acronyms and technical terms that may be unfamiliar to many users (e.g. the average user is unlikely to know the meaning of SN or UDID, or understand what is meant by their browser’s ‘user agent’). Moreover, they are also likely to remain uninformed in terms of understanding how the data is used. Although there is a specific section on data use, it is couched in a number of broad principles framed around fulfilling ‘contractual obligations’ and supporting ‘legitimate interests’.

Nonetheless, as Figure 4 illustrates, some relevant app-specific information is presented to users within the AppGallery, with each app able to carry an indicator of the checks that have been passed. Interestingly, however, the meaning of these checks (and the basis for awarding the indicator that an app has passed) is not clearly explained and search results do not find extensive explanation of them^{[footnote 30]}.

Figure 4 : Huawei AppGallery app check indicators

3.2.4 Third-party stores

The third-party stores generally tend to present less in terms of any user-facing information about security. Several simply limit information to what the website itself is doing, with no reference or assurance regarding apps that may be downloaded from the associated store. However, some do go a little further, and two related examples are presented below.

The first case, with security getting a fairly prominent mention, is the Android app store Aptoide. Looking at the website, there is certainly a bold claim to be found under the ‘Why Aptoide?’ link, stating that security is the top priority and claiming that recent studies prove it to be the “safest Android app store”^{[footnote 31]}. However, in the absence of any related links or further information it is not clear which studies this is referring to or indeed how recent they are. Elsewhere on the site, the About page makes a similarly bold claim that the store has “one of the best malware detection systems in the market”^{[footnote 32]}, but this is again being stated without linkage to further supporting details or explanation.

Further investigation reveals that the store uses a malware scanning platform that it calls Aptoide Sentinel^{[footnote 33]}, and apps that pass through this are afforded the use of a Trusted App badge and an accompanying information banner to confirm that it has been scanned (see the anonymised app example in Figure 5, noting that in practice a description and screenshots of the app are presented in the dotted area). This arguably raises the question of whether apps should be present in the store if they have not passed the scanning.

Figure 5 : Trusted app indicators in the Aptoide store

A second example is F-Droid, a repository of free and open source software for Android. In this case, security is not being in any way headlined, but it is at least possible to find some reference to it. However, the following text from the Terms presented on the website make it immediately apparent that the store is providing somewhat less assurance than the Play Store:

“Although every effort is made to ensure that everything in the repository is safe to install, you use it AT YOUR OWN RISK. Wherever possible, applications in the repository are built from source, and that source code is checked for potential security or privacy issues. This checking is far from exhaustive though, and there are no guarantees”^{[footnote 34]}.

Meanwhile, looking at other sources, such as Cydia and GetJar, there is no information that directly speaks to the security perspective of the stores or the apps to be found within them.

3.3 App security and privacy information for users

Research suggests that there are often contradictions between what users claim to want and their actual decisions and behaviour. While many express concern about protecting their privacy, the reality is that their decision over whether to install an app is more typically led by factors of app functionality, design and cost^{[footnote 35]}. These aspects consequently tend to outweigh privacy concerns. However, a potential limitation here is that users may not be receiving sufficient information to enable them to place privacy on an equal footing in their decision-making. Within a typical app store, they can see a general description of the app, images of how it looks, and the price. However, the privacy angle may be less clearly represented, and so another relevant consideration is the extent to which information is (or could be) conveyed to users to enable them to take informed decisions about whether they wish to use a given app (e.g. privacy ratings, information on app behaviour), and how they can take steps to protect themselves. In addition to whether such information is provided, it is also relevant to consider where it is placed and the effort that may be involved for users to find and interpret it, and varying approaches can be seen amongst the different stores.

Apple has made a particular virtue of the security and privacy of its product offer, explicitly marketing the operating system and app store environment as offering the user a level of protection that they may not receive elsewhere. The prominence of their stance has included the ‘Privacy. That’s iPhone’ advertising campaign^{[footnote 36]}, and a 13-storey billboard poster at the CES 2019 technology exhibition in Las Vegas (at which the company otherwise had no official presence), proclaiming that “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone”^{[footnote 37]}. Having made such statements so publicly, it is unsurprising to discover that Apple follows up on this with the privacy support offered to users.

In December 2020 Apple introduced new requirements for developers to be explicit about the data collection and usage practices of their apps (these had originally been announced earlier in the year as part of the feature updates accompanying iOS 14^{[footnote 38]}). As a result, they are required to declare information about app data collection and usage via App Store Connect^{[footnote 39]}, the service by which they submit and manage apps to the App Store (for both iOS and Mac).

Specifically, the developer is now required to identify and declare all data that they or any third-party partners collect via the app^{[footnote 40]}. They are also required to maintain this information to keep the declaration up to date if any of the details change over time. The need for disclosure becomes optional if any app meets all of the following criteria (i.e. if only a subset apply, then disclosure is still required):

● “The data is not used for tracking purposes, meaning the data is not linked with Third-Party Data for advertising or advertising measurement purposes, or shared with a data broker.

● The data is not used for Third-Party Advertising, your Advertising or Marketing purposes, or for Other Purposes, as those terms are defined in the Tracking section.

● Collection of the data occurs only in infrequent cases that are not part of your app’s primary functionality, and which are optional for the user.

● The data is provided by the user in your app’s interface, it is clear to the user what data is collected, the user’s name or account name is prominently displayed in the submission form alongside the other data elements being submitted, and the user affirmatively chooses to provide the data for collection each time.”

The approach is analogous to the nutritional information labels that are commonly found on food and drink products, and intended to enable users to make more informed decisions about whether they wish to install and trust an app, based upon how it will handle their data. They can expect to see details on all data that the app collects from them and/or accesses from their device, as well as how it is used by the app provider and any third parties. Apple’s website lists the various data types that developers are required to declare to users, as well as the types of data usage that must be disclosed^{[footnote 41]}.

The impact of these new requirements was reflected in the App Store from mid-December 2020, and Figure 6 presents illustrative examples for three different types of app – BBC Sounds (a media streaming service), LinkedIn (a social network) and Microsoft Word (a productivity tool). It is notable that the labels are a top-level indicator of what is collected, and if the user clicks on the labels, they can then explore a further level of detail - revealing the specific sub-types of data used by the app, set against a series of broad usage categories (e.g. including Third-Party Advertising, Product Personalisation, Analytics, and a general option of ‘Other Purposes’)^{[footnote 42]}. While this makes things considerably more transparent than was previously the case (and clearer than the current treatment in other app stores), it may still arguably leave answered questions about what the labelling actually means in practice (e.g. this app collects and uses my usage data, but what does it use it for?).

Figure 6 : Examples of privacy labelling in the Apple App Store

It is notable that Apple’s introduction of the privacy labels, and the obligation to use them, was not to the liking of all developers. For example, the developers of Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging app complained that the broad terms used to describe the privacy practices may actually serve to “spook users” about what data apps collect and what they do with it. To repeat a reported quote from a WhatsApp spokesperson: “While WhatsApp cannot see people’s messages or precise location, we’re stuck using the same broad labels with apps that do”^{[footnote 43]}.

In terms of what other app stores are doing in this space, the Google Play Store allows users to obtain privacy-related information by getting a list of the permissions that an app requires (the link for which is provided amongst a set of ‘additional information’ – including app version, size, content ratings – presented at the bottom of the download page, below user reviews and ratings). Once the link is followed, the permission details are then presented to the user as shown in Figure 7. However, there is a notable difference between this permission-based approach and the privacy-focused representation used by Apple, insofar as while it tells the user what the permissions are for, it does arguably not tell them how they are being used.

Figure 7 : App permission details as presented in the Google Play Store

This can be contrasted with the level and style of information presented in the Aptoide store. In this case, potential users are presented with an indication of the number of permissions the app requires and can also obtain an associated list of exactly what they are. However, as illustrated in Figure 8 (which depicts results for the same app as the Play Store example), while this serves to provide the information the nature of the permissions is not conveyed in a manner that the vast majority of users would find meaningful (noting that the Figure shows only a subset of the 56 permissions that are actually listed for the app in question).

Figure 8 : App permission details as presented in the Aptoide store

The Huawei AppGallery initially appears to take a similar approach to the other Android examples, in terms of offering users a link from which to view the permissions. However, attempts to test this across multiple devices (including a Huawei phone), using different browsers (Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari), and checking multiple apps met with no success in revealing how the permissions are actually conveyed. As shown in Figure 9 (from an attempt to follow the Permissions link from within a desktop browser), all that is shown is an empty window.

Figure 9 : Attempting to view app permissions in the Huawei AppGallery

A further privacy feature announced for iOS 14, but not released at the time of writing, is App Tracking Transparency (ATT)^{[footnote 44]}, which limits any tracking across apps and websites to become opt-in only. Again, the aim behind this is to enable users to be more informed and in-control of their privacy, by requiring them to inform users when an app wishes to track them and giving them the choice of whether to permit it.

3.4 Using community insights

In addition to what app developers declare about their wares, some app stores also offer a further route for potential users to learn about security and privacy issues – namely via the reviews that have already been posted by other users. However, the stores vary in whether this facility is offered, and so while the official stores unsurprisingly do so, the third-party stores are more variable (e.g. from the three independent Android stores examined, Aptoide does but F-Droid and GetJar do not).

Figure 10 presents an example from Aptoide, in this case for an app that does not have the Trusted App / Good App Guaranteed status. With this in mind it is notable that, in practical terms, what users would probably like (but do not get) is a means to link to any negative review comments, in order to see why the app received the negative ratings. Moreover, the site does not expose the full set of review comments, and so those that are visible are not necessarily going to tell a clear story. Huawei’s AppGallery presents information in a similar manner. By contrast, Google Play and the iOS App Store allow review comments to be filtered according to the review rating.

Figure 10 : App rating example from Aptoide store

In terms of understanding the positive difference that ratings and (more particularly) review comments can make, it is interesting to note the findings of a related study conducted by Nguyen et al.^{[footnote 45]}. They applied natural language processing to over 4.5 million reviews for the top 2,583 apps in Google Play. From this they identified 5,527 security and privacy relevant reviews and determined that these were a significant predictor for later privacy-related updates of the target apps (with the findings mapping SPRs to related later updates in 60.77% of cases). This suggests that appropriately captured user opinions can be influential in motivating behaviour change amongst app developers.

4. Supporting developers

4.1 The need for developer guidelines

While many may now expect credible developers to already know that security and privacy are important, it is still reasonable to assume that some may be familiar with the notion but potentially unclear on exactly what they ought to be doing or how to achieve it. As such, it is relevant to consider the extent to which the issues are promoted to them by the app stores and their associated developer guidance^{[footnote 46]}. For example, how do app stores guide developers and advise them regarding checks on submitted apps, and are developers expected to be conversant with privacy and data protection principles, or does the developer guidance support them to understand what they are expected to be protecting?

It is suggested that in some cases developers (particularly start-ups looking to establish a position and compete in the market) may be releasing apps in haste, without giving due attention to security and protection of user data^{[footnote 47]}. As such, it is relevant to examine what the different stores do to promote and manage these aspects.

4.2 Apple App Store

The App Store is well-known for having an app review process, with Apple recognised as setting a high bar in terms of gatekeeping from both content and security perspectives. Various points within the review guidelines highlight and emphasize issues of relevance to security, privacy and trust^{[footnote 48]}. It is expected that app functionality is clear and accurately described, and specific points of relevance come from Section 2 (Performance) of the detailed developer guidelines, and in particular relate to Section 2.3 (Accurate Metadata) and Section 2.5 (Software Requirements):

“2.3.1 Don’t include any hidden, dormant, or undocumented features in your app; your app’s functionality should be clear to end users and App Review. All new features, functionality, and product changes must be described with specificity in the Notes for Review section of App Store Connect (generic descriptions will be rejected) and accessible for review. Similarly, you should not market your app on the App Store or offline as including content or services that it does not actually offer (e.g. iOS-based virus and malware scanners). Egregious or repeated behavior is grounds for removal from the Developer Program. We work hard to make the App Store a trustworthy ecosystem and expect our app developers to follow suit; if you’re dishonest, we don’t want to do business with you.

2.5.3 Apps that transmit viruses, files, computer code, or programs that may harm or disrupt the normal operation of the operating system and/or hardware features, including Push Notifications and Game Center, will be rejected. Egregious violations and repeat behavior will result in removal from the Developer Program.”

Discussion in later sections makes points about appropriate use of subscriptions, in-app purchases, and notifications in order to avoid scamming and spamming of users, and the Legal section echoes the points around data collection, storage and use that are also presented in the developer guidance

A good summary of Apple’s stance is offered in section 5.6 (Developer Code of Conduct), which states:

“Customer trust is the cornerstone of the App Store’s success. Apps should never prey on users or attempt to rip-off customers, trick them into making unwanted purchases, force them to share unnecessary data, raise prices in a tricky manner, charge for features or content that are not delivered, or engage in any other manipulative practices within or outside of the app.”

The review process itself then involves examination of both technical and user-facing aspects of the candidate app (including its code functionality, use of APIs, content and behaviour), in order to ensure that (amongst other things) they are reliable and respect privacy. Apple’s guidance suggests that, on average, 50% of apps are reviewed in 24 hours and over 90% are reviewed in 48 hours. Apple’s website claims that 100,000 apps are reviewed per week, of which 40% are rejected, with the primary reason being minor bugs, followed by privacy concerns^{[footnote 49]}.

In terms of what the review process actually involves, security is headlined as one of the key principles of overall app safety (alongside points such as avoidance of objectionable content, child safety etc)^{[footnote 50]}:

“1.6 Data Security

Apps should implement appropriate security measures to ensure proper handling of user information collected pursuant to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement and these Guidelines (see Guideline 5.1 for more information) and prevent its unauthorized use, disclosure, or access by third parties.”

The detailed guidance within the code of conduct has more specific focus upon ‘data collection and storage’ and ‘data use and sharing’, as well as special consideration for data relating to health and fitness, or to children. Apple’s developer documentation also provides further guidance for developers in terms of privacy principles^{[footnote 51]}:

● Request Access Only When Your App Needs the Data

● Be Transparent About How Data Will Be Used

● Give the User Control Over Data and Protect Data You Collect

● Use the Minimum Amount of Data Required

As examples of coverage on specific issues, it also provides further links to documentation on requesting access to protected resources^{[footnote 52]} (including guidance on how to advise the user about the purpose of the requested access) and encrypting the app’s files^{[footnote 53]}.

4.3 Google Play store

Android developer guidelines include specific policies in relation to Privacy, Deception and Device Abuse, and Google’s position on the issue is usefully and unambiguously summarised in a brief video that accompanies the more detailed policy^{[footnote 54]}.

In terms of helping developers to understand what they should be concerned about protecting, personal and sensitive user data is defined as including (but not limited to) “personally identifiable information, financial and payment information, authentication information, phonebook, contacts, device location, SMS and call related data, microphone, camera, and other sensitive device or usage data”^{[footnote 55]}

The full Developer Program Policy^{[footnote 56]} makes extensive statements about a variety of relevant issues under the broad heading of ‘Privacy, deception and device abuse’, including permissions, deceptive behaviour, malware and mobile unwanted software. The policy also highlights a range of enforcement actions that can be applied should developers be found to be in breach of these or other aspects, including rejection or removal of their app, and suspension or termination of their developer account.

In terms of the Play Store’s app review process, the guidance covers a number of steps that developers are required to complete in order to prepare their new or updated app for review^{[footnote 57]}, but there is no specific information about what happens within the review process. Nonetheless, from the perspective of this study, it is relevant to note that the submission process requires developers to add a privacy policy to indicate how their app treats sensitive user and device data. Developers are also required to complete a Permissions Declaration form^{[footnote 58]} if their app is requesting the use of high-risk or sensitive permissions (e.g. relating to permissions to access call and message logs, device location, or files stored on the device). The guidance does not give a clear indication of how long the review process takes, but it is noted that “certain developer accounts” will experience longer periods and may take a week or more, as illustrated in Figure 11^{[footnote 59]}.

Note: For certain developer accounts, we’ll take more time to thoroughly review your app to help better protect users. This may result in review times of up to seven days or longer in exceptional circumstances. You’ll receive a notification on your app’s Dashboard about how long this should take.

Figure 11 : Google Play Store app review information

4.4 Huawei AppGallery

With the Google Play Store being unavailable in the Chinese market, the AppGallery can effectively be considered to assume the mantle of an official store in this context. What seems less apparent in the Huawei case is clear emphasis of top-level security and privacy principles for app developers to comply with. Guidance is presented in relation to the Ability Gallery (the platform for integration and distribution of abilities - services that help users complete tasks)^{[footnote 60]}.

AppGallery has what is described as ‘Four-layer Threat Detection’, defined as follows^{[footnote 61]}:

“A professional security detection system featuring malicious behavior detection, privacy check, and security vulnerability scanning; manual real-name security check, as well as real person, real device, and real environment authentication to ensure app security.”

The Safety Detect kit offers a series of APIs that developers can integrate into their apps to enhance security^{[footnote 62]}:

● SysIntegrity - Monitors the integrity of the app’s running environment (e.g. whether the device has been rooted^{[footnote 63]})

● URLCheck - Determines the threat type of a specific URL.

● AppsCheck - Obtains a list of malicious apps.

● UserDetect - Checks whether your app is interacting with a fake user (unavailable in Chinese mainland)

● WifiDetect: Checks whether the Wi-Fi to be connected is secure (only available in Chinese mainland)

Another element of relevance to the app security context is that developers are given access to the DataSecurity Engine, which stores keys, user credentials, and sensitive personal information in a secure space based on a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)^{[footnote 64]}.

As with the official stores, the AppGallery has an app review process, and similarly in common with the others no specific details are available that describes the actual steps and stages. Security is clearly flagged as one of the motivations for the process, and one of the related sets of Frequently Asked Questions indicates that “To provide users with more secure apps, HUAWEI AppGallery has introduced an enhanced professional security monitoring platform and implemented strict review standards”^{[footnote 65]}. The same source, states that from the security and privacy perspective, an app may be rejected because:

• it requires unnecessary phone permissions that threaten user privacy

• it uses a third-party SDK plug-in that has viruses or security privacy risks.

Meanwhile, an alternative set of app review FAQs also presents five reasons why an app could be rejected in relation to security issues^{[footnote 66]}:

“ 1) Contains virus

2) Contains unauthorized payments

3) Requires unnecessary phone permissions that threaten user privacy

4) Automatically opens background services

5) Reduces phone performance”

However, these are arguably not very descriptive answers and so rely upon the developer to understand or interpret the point being made. The same observation can be made in relation to the other directly security-related question in the same FAQ, which asks how a developer can deal with an app that has been rejected due to virus issues. The response given is simply that “Developers can upload the APK to VirusTotal, a non-profit service that integrates dozens of anti-virus software”. This seems a somewhat odd response, insofar as it guides the developer in terms of registering the malware to enable later detection, rather than advising them in the steps that should be taken to avoid their app being categorised in this manner.

Huawei also provides guidance on common reasons for the rejection of apps^{[footnote 67]}. While this list includes deficiencies in relation to privacy policy, there are no references to security-related issues such as the presence of vulnerabilities or malware. It is assumed that this omission is simply because these are not common reasons, rather than because they are not qualifying reasons.

Based on the information presented across the two FAQ documents, the app review process reportedly takes three to five working days, but can take longer in (undefined) ‘special cases’.

4.5 Third-party stores

Given the sheer volume of different options available, a review and assessment of the guidance and practices of all third-party stores is outside the scope of this study, but some examples in both Android and iOS contexts are provided in order to compare them to the official stores. Even from this small sample, there are some clear differences in positioning that can be identified in the extent to which security and privacy aspects are headlined to potential developers.

4.5.1 Aptoide

The approach in this case is that developers can create their own store, which is then accessible via the Aptoide app. The guidance for developers on uploading an app to their store makes no mention of security or privacy, and there is no indication of an associated review process^{[footnote 68]}. Indeed, a wider search of the Aptoide ‘knowledge base’ revealed no results for ‘privacy’ and the only result for ‘security’ was in relation to the need to change security settings in order to permit untrusted developers when installing the Aptoide app in order to create the developer’s own store.

As previously mentioned, Aptoide does include anti-malware scanning of apps submitted to the store, with those that pass being awarded the Trusted App status/badge, but this aspect is not flagged in the developer materials.

As an aside, reports in spring 2020 indicated that the Aptoide app store itself had become the victim of a security breach, resulting in the release of data from 20 million subscribers that had registered with the store between July 2016 and January 2018^{[footnote 69]}. While bulk data breaches of this nature are unfortunately quite common, and have affected various large organisations in recent years, the incident potentially raises further questions about the security and privacy aspect of third-party app stores when compared to the official stores that would be (assumed to be) ensuring maximum protection over subscriber details.

4.5.2 F-Droid

The F-Droid inclusion policy is notably more permissive than the official app stores, and includes the following statement:

“Some software, while being Free and Open Source, may engage in practices which are undesirable to some or all users. Where possible, we still include these applications in the repository, but they are flagged with the appropriate Anti-Features.”^{[footnote 70]}

These Anti-Features are defined as flags warning that an app contains “possibly undesirable behaviour from the user’s perspective, often serving the interest of the developer or a third party”^{[footnote 71]}. Such flags include indicators for apps that contain a known security vulnerability or which have been signed using an unsafe algorithm. At the time of writing, the repository contained 357 apps flagged with anti-features, of which 31 related to tracking and two were for known vulnerabilities.

Vulnerabilities are identified by the exploit scanning capability of F-Droid Server (which is the route for adding apps to the repository), which in turn uses F-Secure Lab’s Drozer tool (a security auditing and attack framework that enables use and sharing of public Android exploits^{[footnote 72]}).

In terms of actual guidance for developers in relation to security and privacy aspects, there is essentially no mention in relation to the apps that they are uploading. There is no direct mention of security or privacy in the developer FAQ, but there is the following rather ‘grey’ statement in relation to the question ‘Can I track users from my users?’:

“You can, but if you include any kind of tracking or analytics in your application (even sending crash reports) this must be something that the user explicitly opts in to - i.e. you ask them on first run, before sending anything anywhere, or there’s a preference that defaults to OFF. In all other cases, we may still include the app, but it will be flagged with our ‘Tracking’ AntiFeature, which means users will only ever see the app if they choose to view such apps”^{[footnote 73]}

In short, developers are told that they can track users without asking them to opt in, provided they are willing for the app to be flagged as Tracking.

It is worth noting that the whole concept of anti-features is covering aspects that would not be passed for inclusion in the official app stores in the first place.

4.5.3 GetJar

GetJar presents itself as “The worlds biggest Open App Store for Android”, although the following information (from the About page) is rather dated (referring to information up to a decade old, and making reference to several platforms that are now largely obsolete in the market):

“As of early 2015, the company provides more than 849,036 mobile apps across major mobile platforms including Java ME, BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Android and has been delivering over 3 million app downloads per day. GetJar allows software developers to upload their applications for free through a developer portal. In June 2010, about 300,000 software developers added apps to GetJar resulting in over one billion downloads. In July 2011, GetJar had over two billion downloads.”

The majority of information for Developers is only available if an account is created within the GetJar Developer Zone. However, the Terms of use include several points that are clearly linked to security and protection, including the prohibition of harmful activities that would affect the GetJar site, and any submission of malware or other programs that could harm or disrupt other users^{[footnote 74]}. As such, while it is not presented as prominently as in the official stores, GetJar appears to have a clear position on dissuading developers from uploading apps that would be troublesome from a security and privacy perspective. There is also some direct reference to the existence of an app review process, with the brief developer guidance stating that “The upload of the app is instant, but it can take usually up-to 72hours until app is placed into the catalog or even longer if app looks suspicious. GetJar can prolong moderation time or reject app submission in any case with no prior notice when the app might not be appropriate for GetJar users”^{[footnote 75]}. However, there is no further clarification on how ‘looking suspicious’ or ‘being inappropriate’ may actually be defined.

4.5.4 Cydia

Cydia is a third-party option for iOS devices rather than Android, and the parent website describes it as “the first un-official iPhone appstore that contains jailbreak apps, mods, and other exclusive content, not available on Apple Store”^{[footnote 76]}. The main features are the ability to use so-called ‘tweaks’ (which essentially equate to modifications to iOS), themes (to additionally customise the look of the device), the ability to customise the lock screen, access to the iOS file system, and the ability to unlock the carrier^{[footnote 77]}.

It is a jailbreak app store, meaning that it requires the user’s iPhone to be jailbroken before Cydia can then be installed. The website indicates that this is necessary in order to enable various abilities that would otherwise not be possible. However, as the website also observes, jailbreaking the device can result in some existing apps refusing to run, as they can detect that the device has been jailbroken (or, to quote Cydia site, “Some app developers have decided that, for security, they won’t allow their apps to run on any jailbroken device”^{[footnote 78]}). The site consequently provides links to a series of further ‘tweaks’ that can be downloaded in order to bypass the apps’ jailbreak detection. Thus, the user seems to be quickly led into a potential array of fixes in order to retain the functionality they had previously enjoyed. The site readily highlights that the sort of apps that attempt to detect and avoid running on jailbroken devices include mobile banking and PayPal. As such, rather than looking for workarounds, this ideally ought to raise questions in the user’s mind as to why the developers would seek to prevent them running, and whether doing so might expose them to risk.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is little in evidence to guide developers and no mention of an app review process.

4.6 Limitations of this analysis

It should be noted that further in-depth examination of the support provided to developers was precluded by the timeframe of the review and the fact that it was limited to materials that were directly available online. As such, a more detailed study that further engages in the process from the perspective of a registered developer could usefully offer a more comprehensive picture of the extent to which different app stores are supporting developers in relation to security themes.

5. Vulnerability reporting and bug bounty

Given that the security of apps and app store environments can often be affected by the discovery of vulnerabilities in the code or the platform, it is relevant to consider how these are handled by the app store providers.

In addition to offering a channel by which vulnerabilities can be reported, it is also common to offer a means to incentivise it being used. The official stores consequently offer rewards programmes (also known as Bug Bounty schemes) that are intended to encourage the disclosure of vulnerabilities rather than their exploitation (with the reward being set at a level high enough to motivate good behaviour and offset the financial gains that may be generated by using the discovery illicitly). A standard (and reasonable) condition of the bounty programmes in all cases is that the discovered issue is not disclosed more widely before the provider has an opportunity to take appropriate action.

5.1 Apple

Apple’s Security Bounty programme spans all of their OS platforms, and includes several categories specifically related to apps^{[footnote 79]}:

User-Installed App: Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Data

• $25,000. App access to a small amount of sensitive data normally protected by a TCC prompt.
• $50,000. Partial app access to sensitive data normally protected by a TCC prompt.
• $100,000. Broad app access to sensitive data normally protected by a TCC prompt or the platform sandbox.

User-Installed App: Kernel Code Execution

• $100,000. Kernel code execution reachable from an app.
• $150,000. Kernel code execution reachable from an app, including PPL bypass or kernel PAC bypass.

User-Installed App: CPU Side-Channel Attack * $250,000. CPU side-channel attack allowing any sensitive data to be leaked from other processes or higher privilege levels.

The figures quoted here are maximum payouts, and the exact amount is determined on the basis of the significance of the vulnerability identified and the quality of the report provided to document it (with Apple providing summary guidance on what should be included in the reporting). In addition to rewarding the researcher that shares the issue, Apple also undertakes to match the bounty payment with a donation to a qualifying charity.

5.2 Google

Google offers a number of reward schemes that can be considered relevant in the context of app and app store security:

● Android Security Rewards Program^{[footnote 80]} – for vulnerabilities in the latest versions of the Android operating system;

● Chrome Vulnerability Reward Program^{[footnote 81]} – for vulnerabilities in the Chrome browser;

● Google Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP)^{[footnote 82]} – for apps developed directly by Google;

● Google Play Security Reward Program (GPSRP)^{[footnote 83]} – for third-party apps in the Google Play Store.

All have separate rules, reward levels and eligibility criteria, and so for the purposes of illustration in this discussion, further focus is given to the scheme that is linked to the app store itself – i.e. the Google Play Security Reward Program. To quote from Google’s own description, GPSRP “recognizes the contributions of security researchers who invest their time and effort in helping make apps on Google Play more secure”.

GPSRP is specifically focused upon ‘popular’ Android apps (classed as those with 100 million installs or more), and at the time of writing, qualifying vulnerabilities must work on patched versions of Android 6.0 or higher.

The process guides disclosers toward contacting the app developers directly in the first instance (if they have a clear means of enabling reporting). If the developer does not appear to offer a reporting route, or does not respond within 30 days, then the vulnerability can be submitted to GPSRP directly.

In terms of the associated reward, the monetary value is determined by the level of exploitability of the vulnerability concerned. This is summarised in Table 2, which depicts the details as presented on Google’s website.

Table 2 : Reward categories from the Google Play Security Reward Program

As shown in the table, the qualifying categories of vulnerability are those relating to arbitrary code execution (which would lead to potential for malware attacks) and theft of sensitive data (which would include vulnerabilities granted access to a user’s account or login credentials, as well as user-generated content, such as their messages, web history and photos). While these categories will clearly account for a range of security and privacy threats, there are other vulnerabilities that are not within scope of the reward scheme:

● “Certain common low-risk vulnerabilities deemed trivially exploitable

● Attacks requiring physical access to devices, including physical proximity for Bluetooth.

● Attacks requiring access to accessibility services.

● Destruction of sensitive data.

● Tricking a user into installing a malicious app without READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE or WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions that abuses a victim app to gain those permissions.

● Intent or URL Redirection leading to phishing.

● Server-side issues.

● Apps that store media in external storage that is accessible to other apps on the device.”

Clearly some of these are understandably out of scope (e.g. server-side issues, which are therefore not related to the app itself, and vulnerabilities that actually relate to tricking the user rather than exploiting the system). However, there are some where perhaps users themselves might expect there to be more interest, such as vulnerabilities that could still lead to the destruction of their sensitive data or still enable their device to be exploited by those in close proximity.

As an aside, the “common low-risk vulnerabilities” category includes bugs with no security impact (which is deemed to include issues that only occur on rooted devices), apps requesting excessive permissions, and vulnerabilities on non-eligible device versions (e.g. exploits that work on older versions of Android, which some users/devices may nonetheless still be using). Google indicates that ~90% of the reports received are ultimately considered to have “little or no practical significance to product security”^{[footnote 84]}.

5.3 Huawei

Although Huawei has a bug bounty programme, it is by invitation only and focused on discovery of vulnerabilities in the company’s mobile devices rather than apps^{[footnote 85]}. As such, it is out of scope in the context of this review.

5.4 Third-party stores

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the payment of such bounties is the preserve of the big players, and there are no similar incentives on offer from the third-party app stores.

5.5 Further comments

As an illustration of the potential success of the bug bounty initiatives, Google reported in 2019 that its Android Security Reward program had received over 1,800 reports and paid out over four million dollars since its launch in 2015^{[footnote 86]}.

It should also be noted that just because the companies may not reward the reporting of certain categories of vulnerability, it does not mean they are not interested in hearing about them. For example, both Apple and Google offer general security vulnerability reporting routes that sit outside of their specific reward programmes (e.g. email reports can be submitted via product-security@apple.com and security@android.com).

Considering the issue from a different perspective, it would obviously be desirable to prevent vulnerabilities from the outset. While there is no easy solution to this, recent research points toward ways in which the app development process could be improved for those that want to give further attention towards security aspects:

• Weir et al.^{[footnote 87]} suggest that the app development process requires a ‘dialectic’ – establishing a dialogue with various counterparties (e.g. the product management team, other development teams, security testers) in order to ensure that security challenges can be raised throughout the development cycle, rather than simply relying on procedural approaches such as development checklists or lists of security errors to be avoided. By actively seeking out arguments and challenges throughout the development process, security then comes as a result of the developers’ continued need to face and interact with the challenges.
• Looking at the free tools that are available to assist developers, Ranganath and Mitra^{[footnote 88]} examined 64 security analysis and vulnerability detection tools for Android apps, and empirically evaluated the effectiveness of 19 of them using a set of 42 vulnerabilities. The findings determined that, when used independently, each of the tools proved able to detect only a small subset of the vulnerabilities, but even used collectively, only 30/42 of the known vulnerabilities were detected. Their conclusion from this was that app developers are under-supported by such tools, and work is required to establish and maintain a common corpus of vulnerabilities against which app security tools should be benchmarked.

6. Malware and risky behaviour

The problem of malicious code on mobile devices continues to grow. This is illustrated in Figure 12, which presents Kaspersky figures for the number of malicious installation packages detected for Android during 2019 and 2020^{[footnote 89]}. Users consequently face a problem from malware and other forms of Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs).

Figure 12 : Number of detected malicious installation packages (Q2 2019 – Q2 2020)

While malware can potentially affect both of the OS platforms, the likelihood (and therefore end-user risk) is amplified on Android devices, particularly as a result of the potential for apps to be more readily installed from third-party app stores. In addition to traditional, well-established categories of malware (e.g. viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware and adware), the mobile/app context has also given rise to further terms that are potentially less familiar:

● Fleeceware – apps that significantly overcharge users, after initial trial periods of free or low-cost usage.

● Stalkerware – commercial spyware programs that, while not illegal, are installed on a device without the knowledge or consent of the device owner (often by an over-eager employer, nosey co-worker or suspicious spouse). The resulting functionality may allow the installer to spy on the user by accessing personal data such as location, messages, social media activities and photos^{[footnote 90]}.

While the app review and approval processes attempt to perform gatekeeping, malicious apps have previously found their way into the official app stores on both Android and iOS as a result of vulnerabilities or loopholes in the development process. Some relevant past examples are catalogued by Bashan^{[footnote 91]}:

● BrainTest – a malicious app discovered in the Google Play Store that was able to bypass the Google Bouncer app scanning tool (now rebranded as part of Google Play Protect) by installing itself in stages via two components. An initial dropper component was installed first, which checked to see where it was being run. If running on Google’s servers (i.e. being scanned), then it did nothing malicious. If it found itself running on an end-user device, however, it would then download the second component, which then downloads further exploitative apps.

● Certifi-gate - related to vulnerabilities in mobile Remote Support Tools (mRST) apps, which are intended to allow provision of remote technical support to users and enable screen sharing and remote operation. The vulnerabilities allowed attackers to masquerade as the remote supporter and then exploit the privileged access in order to install malicious apps or control the device.

● XcodeGhost - a modified version of Apple’s Xcode development environment was created and published by cybercriminals. Every app compiled through it was infected with malicious code by default, with the resulting apps being able to pass Apple’s review process and enter the App Store.

In all cases, problematic apps resulting from the exploitation of these vulnerabilities continued to show up in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store even after the companies had been advised of the vulnerabilities and attempted to take steps to address them.

Numerous reports of further incidents can be identified, and so purely for illustration, the following are two further specific examples from recent times:

• October 2019 – Wandera identified 17 iOS apps in the Apple App Store that were infected with clicker Trojan functionality, designed to simulate user interactions and fraudulently collect ad revenue^{[footnote 92]}.

• May 2020 - Promon identified an elevation of privilege vulnerability, which they named StrandHogg 2.0, which enables attackers to install a malicious app on a user’s device, which is then able to acquire the permissions of other legitimate apps on the device (thereby enabling an attacker to gain access to user credentials and other sensitive data associated with the legitimate app being hijacked)^{[footnote 93]}. The user of an infected device would receive a permission request that appeared to come from the legitimate app, but approving the request would actually grant access to the attacker, before proceeding to launch the legitimate app as normal. The vulnerability affected all Android releases prior to version 10, which at the time of discovery accounted for over 90% of active users.

According to research from RiskIQ, there were 170,196 blacklisted apps in 2019 (a 20% reduction compared to the 213,279 reported in 2018)^{[footnote 94]}. However, they are far from evenly distributed across different platforms and sources, with the majority being Android-focused and linked to third-party stores. It was noted earlier that various app stores have review processes, but RiskIQ’s findings demonstrate that they vary in their effectiveness in terms of keeping malware out. Indeed, while the report describes both of the leading app stores as being “inhospitable for malicious apps”, it still notes a clear difference in the effectiveness of their restrictions. For example, it was observed that 25,647 blacklisted apps were identified in the Play Store during 2019, compared to an overall total of 714,678 newly observed apps (i.e. a malware concentration of 3.5%). By contrast Apple’s approach was likened to Fort Knox, with malware ‘rarely’ finding its way into the App Store.

A 2020 study from NortonLifelock and IMDEA Software Institute revealed that users cannot trust apps purely on the basis of downloading from the official store. The research analysed over 34 million app installs (for 7.9 million unique apps) across over 12 million devices between June and September 2019. Between 10-24% of the apps were classed as malicious or PUPs (depending on the classification being applied) and the research assessed 12 routes for app installation (including via the official Play Store, third-party stores, web browsers, instant messages, and file sharing apps). The headline finding was that two thirds of the installs (67.5%) of the malicious app were originating from the Play Store^{[footnote 95]} (with the Store being the route for 87% of app installs overall).

While the Play Store is the route by which most Android malware finds its way onto devices, it is not the most dangerous app store available to Android users. The RiskIQ study cited 9Game.com as the store hosting the most malicious content, with 61,9669 new malicious app uploads in 2019 (which also gave it the highest concentration of malicious apps overall – although the report did not indicate a figure for the number of apps it hosted in total).

6.1 Detecting malicious apps

From the user perspective, the OS providers take notably different approaches in terms of their acknowledgement and attention toward malware detection. On Android, users are offered the Google Play Protect app verification feature, which checks apps downloaded from the Play Store and also checks and warns about potentially harmful apps that the user may have installed on their device from other sources. This is offered as a default-enabled option in the Google Play Store app. Detection of potentially harmful apps can lead to a notification message to the user, disabling of the app until the user manually removes it, or automatic removal^{[footnote 96]}. In addition to this, users are also at liberty to download a range of anti-malware apps from recognised providers via the Play Store.

The situation on the Apple platform is significantly different, with user-facing options in the App Store and the operating system making little direct mention of malware. Moreover, Apple does not permit anti-malware apps^{[footnote 97]} to be made available for sale via the App Store^{[footnote 98]}. Apple’s position is essentially that all apps are installed via the App Store, the App Store is free of malware, and so anti-malware apps are not required to provide further protection. To quote from the company’s own documentation: “Apple provides layers of protection to ensure that apps are free of known malware and haven’t been tampered with … And users can access these apps on their Apple devices without undue fear of viruses, malware or unauthorised attacks”^{[footnote 99]}.

Given the volume of malicious code being produced, app stores and review processes are reliant upon automated tools to assist the process, scanning apps and attempting to detect malicious behaviour. While the official stores do not publish details for the effectiveness of the specific methods that they use, it is possible to get an insight into the capability of such approaches from related academic studies. For example, the following have each considered malicious app detection on Android:

• Cai et al. examined the execution of over 30,000 apps (half benign and half malware) and were able to characterise differences in the run-time behaviours of malware apps compared to the norm for others (e.g. malicious apps made more use of third-party libraries and service invocation)^{[footnote 100]}.

• Wang et al. conducted experiments in which they trained a series of classifiers to perform static analysis of over 107,327 benign apps and 8,701 malware apps. They reported having achieved accuracies of 99.39% in detecting malware and 82.93% in categorising benign apps^{[footnote 101]}.

Such findings have the potential to inform future detection and defence via code analysis tools and could feed into the safeguards used by app stores to protect their content.

6.2 Risky behaviour

When considering the top mobile security threats, Kaspersky highlights data leakage from apps at the top of the list (of the other six topics listed, only one other – spyware – is app-related, but in this context is being used to refer to stalkerware rather than overt cybercriminal activity). The main causes are considered to be^{[footnote 102]}:

● Riskware – legitimately installed apps for which users have granted excessively broad permissions

● Hostile enterprise-signed apps – i.e. apps that have been installed from an enterprise developer that has been trusted on the device, but which are then performing undesirable activities.

When considering risky behaviour, Wandera broadens the definition beyond the unwanted and potentially damaging functionality associated with traditional forms of malware such as viruses, worms and Trojans, to include a range of other characteristics that may lead an app to be regarded as ‘risky’^{[footnote 103]}:

• “Permission overload – The app is asking for access to more than it needs

• Privacy – The app is gathering information and transferring it out to third party sources

• Data leaks – The app is not protecting information with encryption as it is transmitted so the data can be captured by a third party

• Malicious or suspicious network connections – The app is connecting to command & control (C&C) servers, exfiltrating data and communicating with questionable/untrusted servers

• Social engineering – The app uses manipulative practices to fool users into taking an action”

The issue of permission overload warrants further consideration, particularly as this can then lead to the further risks in terms of privacy and data leaks once the app has been granted access. Further findings from Wandera specifically consider the extent to which iOS apps request permission to access different device features and data sources, revealing that access to the user’s camera, photo library and location data are the most commonly requested permissions, and social networking, weather and shopping apps are those that tend to request the most permissions^{[footnote 104]}. While many of the permissions will be requested for perfectly legitimate reasons in relation to supporting the intended functions and features of the app, the situation is not always obvious.

Having highlighted the problem, Wandera’s analysis offers a number of resultant recommendations:

● “Regularly check your app permission settings.

● Read the purpose string or usage description string carefully when a permission request pops up.

● Delete apps you no longer use to minimize the risk of bugs appearing in old or abandoned apps”.

However, the ease of actually following this advice is questionable. For example, in order to perform the suggested check of app permissions, the iOS user is required to visit the Privacy settings and then inspect each of the items in turn. Aside from being a potentially laborious process, it can also be less than obvious to the user what a requested permission may be required to support. This essentially relates back to the issue of user attitude and awareness that was mentioned in the earlier sections.

The challenge of getting users to understand and control app permissions is highlighted by 2016 findings from Kaspersky, who surveyed over 18,500 users globally and determined that 43% do not appear to give appropriate consideration to limiting permissions when installing apps^{[footnote 105]}. This was further supported by another study the following year, suggesting that only a third of users read user agreements carefully to decide whether they should decline the installation of an app, and only 40% were inclined to adjust app settings (e.g. relating to data access/sharing, and location tracking)^{[footnote 106]}. The same 2017 study also looked at the Top-100 apps installed on Android devices, revealed that 83% have access to sensitive data (within this 70% had access to user accounts, 43% to external storage, 38% to device location, 37% to contacts, 21% to messages, and 20% able to makes calls and send texts). Moreover, 96% of apps were able to be active without the user specifically launching them, which Kaspersky suggests offers temptation to cybercriminals looking to exploit data.

7. Recommendations

Having examined the evidence from the various perspectives, it is relevant to consider actions that could apply to different parties involved in order to reduce or manage the risk. In all cases, we need to consider this through the lens of reducing the risk and exposure of the innocent majority and need to recognise that no attempt at guidance or good practice is going to dissuade those that are intent on causing damage or exploiting others.

7.1 App store providers

The stores are the channels by which apps reach the users, and so clearly represent the best place for frontline actions. The main players are playing a part already, with a clear stance on security and privacy, and the use of credible app review processes. The situation with third-party stores is more varied, and a potential effect of trying to introduce additional expectations or restrictions could be to move the problem rather than resolving it. While some stores may attempt to comply, others could still seek to offer a more liberal route, and it ultimately risks driving more of the activity underground (although this would likely limit the volume of users then having the opportunity to engage with them).

Key examples of things that could be done to demonstrate that they are concerned about the issues:

• Publish clear and accessible guidance to developers to developers around security and privacy expectations.

• Publish clear and accessible information to users regarding privacy and security practices, ideally including a clear commitment to supporting related good practice.

• Ensuring the permissions and privacy entitlements of an app are clear before a consumer installs it to their device, with a clear method to reject access to such permissions.

• When a malicious application is detected and removed from an official app store, users who have already downloaded the app on their device should be notified so they can remove it. More active interventions could include disabling or automatically removing the app, so that safeguarding does not depend upon the user manually responding to a notification.

• Likewise, when a security patch is released for an app, the official app store should encourage users to update the unsupported/out of date app.

• Offering simple methods for reporting issues/malicious apps to the app store vendors.

Some stores, such as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, do aspects of this already, but the practice is far from consistent.

7.2 Developers

Setting aside those developers that would seek to develop overtly malicious or intentionally privacy-invasive apps as their primary objective, there is a potential case to be won with those that are creating problematic apps because they do not know any better, or because the app stores do not require them to do better.

The developer community at large needs to be encouraged to learn and adopt appropriate security- and privacy-aware practices. App store providers can play their part in supporting (and expecting) this amongst their developer community. Again, there is already evidence of the official stores in particular providing related resources to educate and support developers to do the right thing. Taking this further, there could usefully be consideration of means by which developers could demonstrate their understanding of core principles and practices in order to ‘qualify’ to make apps available for public release.

7.3 Users

There are different levels of potential intervention for users, depending on whether they are operating as private individuals or organisational employees.

• Content/device control

In a corporate context, there is the potential for the organisation to impose control via Mobile Device Management, and thereby restrict the employees’ ability to install content from third-party stores.

• Effective communication of security and privacy factors

This essentially relates back to what is presented to users about the apps when viewing them within the app stores. Having clear indications of whether the app has been scanned for malware, the permissions it requires and why, and potentially some indication of the related track record of the developer (e.g. how many security-related updates have they needed to issue for this or other apps in their portfolio?).

• Increased awareness

Fundamentally, the most desirable situation is one in which users are aware that they ought to be proactively considering security and privacy issues as part of their decision to install apps, as well as in choice of where to install them from. This requires some level of awareness raising and promotion to occur outside of the context of individual app stores, such that users who then visit a given store will be positioned to be looking for related details.

Routes for the provision of such awareness would naturally fit as part of wider cyber security awareness initiatives (e.g. Cyber Aware). The focus would be around supporting users to understand what to look out for when downloading apps, as well as how to consider the credibility of the app store sources. As with any awareness initiative, it should be expected that this will reduce rather than resolve the problem. While it may ward off some users, others will still opt to take their chances, particularly if they perceive the reward to outweigh the risk.

7.4 A cross-cutting approach

While no single step with any individual stakeholder seems likely to be significantly impactful, there may be merit in considering mechanisms that would encompass all of them.

• Code of Practice

In this respect, there could be a potential role for some sort of voluntary opt-in scheme for developers and providers to establish an agreed set of security and privacy focused principles and practices that ought to be upheld in their provision of apps. For the developer, the code would relate to following a set of defined security and privacy practices in their app development, as well as adhering to appropriate standards in terms of app behaviour (e.g. in terms of transparent, non-malicious functionality and data handling). Meanwhile, for the app store provider, relevant good practice would encompass the application of a core set of requirements and checks before making apps available.

Such a code of practice could clearly inherit existing elements of good practice from the approaches already used in the official stores and within the software development community more generally.

Indeed, the notion of having a related code of practice for app developers is not a new idea – as we have seen, the official stores already have their own developer guidance, and it is possible to find further material from independent sources (as an example, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office has privacy guidance for mobile app developers dating back to 2013^{[footnote 107]}). However, the difference in this case would be that the target is toward potentially wider-reaching guidance that could be adopted and endorsed by the sector for the sector.

• Register of Trusted App Stores

In future, a register of compliant stores linked to the Code of Practice could be created (which could also include a list of known stores that have not been verified, have been verified but lost their ‘compliant’ status, or are actively considered to be a risk).

Official stores would be expected to be in there by default (although would still need to demonstrate their eligibility), and so the real hurdle would be for the third-party providers.

Overall, this links to the potential to build a greater sense of consumer awareness around apps and app stores.

1. Note that this can also happen inadvertently, if the developer is unknowingly using a malicious Software Development Kit or a development tool that has been compromised by malware (see the XcodeGhost example in section 6). ↩

2. The term ‘sideloading’ refers to installing an app directly onto the device rather than downloading from an app store. For example, in the context of Android devices it means manually transferring an APK (Android Package Kit / Android Application Package) file directly to the device. ↩

3. Note that while Apple now makes a distinction between iOS as the operating system for its iPhone smartphones and iPadOS for its iPad tablets, for simplicity the remainder of this report uses iOS as the collective name to refer to both. ↩

4. GlobalStats. 2020. “Mobile Operating System Market Share Worldwide - October 2020”, statcounter GlobalStats. https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

5. IDC. 2020. “Smartphone Market Share”, IDC Corporate USA, 14 September 2020. https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/os (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

6. Eddy, M. 2019. “SecurityWatch: Android vs. iOS, Which Is More Secure?”, PC Mag UK, 24 April 2019. https://uk.pcmag.com/apple-ios-12/120631/securitywatch-android-vs-ios-which-is-more-secure (accessed 19/11/20). ↩

7. Apple. 2020. “iOS and iPadOS Usage”, App Store Developer Support, Apple, Inc. https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/ (accessed 19/11/20). ↩

8. Richter, F. 2018. “What Sets iOS Apart From Android”, statista, 17 September 2018. https://www.statista.com/chart/5930/adoption-of-ios-and-android-versions/ (accessed 19/11/20). ↩

9. Symanovich, S. 2018. “The risks of third-party app stores”, NortonLifelock, 18 July 2018. https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-mobile-the-risks-of-third-party-app-stores.html (4/12/20). ↩

10. A related development at the time of writing is the emergence of the Coalition for App Fairness (appfairness.org), which has been established to “advocate for freedom of choice and fair competition across the app ecosystem” and which positions itself as a response to Apple’s pricing model (in which the company retains 30% of the revenue for apps sold through the App Store). The Coalition claims that this serves to drive up prices and creates an anti-competitive situation for both developers and consumers. ↩

11. Google. 2020. “Paid app availability”, Google Play Help. https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/143779 (accessed 6/12/20). ↩

12. Note that there is no notion of second-party app stores, as the user of the app is the second party. ↩

13. Callaham, J. 2020. “Here’s how to install Fortnite for Android and iOS”, Android Authority, 17 December 2020. https://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-install-fortnite-for-android-894001/ (accessed 26/1/21). ↩

14. See https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/apps/galaxy-store and https://appgallery.huawei.com. ↩

15. GetJar. 2020. “How to install Android app”, https://www.getjar.com/how-it-works (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

16. The term ‘jailbreaking’ refers to privilege escalation on iOS devices, which serves to bypass various prohibitions otherwise imposed by Apple in order to protect the device and control the content installed upon it. As a result of jailbreaking, the user is granted ‘root’ (aka superuser) access and is able to install apps from sources other than the App Store. ↩

17. Configuration profiles are XML files that load settings and authorization information (including security policies and certificates) onto an iOS device. They are intended for use by IT departments and cellular carriers, but users may also install them from other sources. ↩

18. Apple. 2020. “Apple Developer Enterprise Program”, Developer Support, Apple, Inc. https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/ (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

19. Constine, J. 2019. “Apple bans Facebook’s Research app that paid users for data”, TechCrunch, 30 January 2019. https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/30/apple-bans-facebook-vpn/ (accessed 25/1/21). ↩

20. Bashan, A. and Bobrov, O. 2016. “Enterprise Apps: Bypassing the Gatekeeper”, Check Point Software Technologies,Ltd. https://www.blackhat.com/docs/asia-16/materials/asia-16-Bashan-Enterprise-Apps-Bypassing-The-iOS-Gatekeeper-wp.pdf (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

21. TutuApp. 2020. “TutuApp Download”, 15 October 2020. https://tutuapp-vip.com/download/ (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

22. Dogtiev, A. 2020. “App Stores List (2020)”, Business of Apps, 21 December 2020. https://www.businessofapps.com/guide/app-stores-list (accessed 3/1/21). ↩

23. Degirmenci, K. 2020. “Mobile users information privacy concerns and the role of app permission requests”, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 50, pp261-272. ↩

24. Thales. 2017. Thales: building trust in mobile apps - The consumer perspective, Thales Group. https://www.thalesgroup.com/sites/default/files/gemalto/tel-consumer-perspectives.pdf (accessed 28/11/20) ↩

25. NCSA. 2020. Cybersecurity Awareness Month – Survey Report, September 2020. https://staysafeonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NCSA_Cybersecurity-Awareness-Month-2020_Survey-Data-Report-1.pdf (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

26. Kaspersky Lab. 2018. “Concerns on the rise about mobile apps watching and tracking users, finds Kaspersky Lab”, Press release, Kaspersky Lab, 12 July 2018. https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2018_mobile-apps-tracking-users (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

27. Apple. 2020. “Principle and Practice”, iOS App Store. https://www.apple.com/uk/ios/app-store/principles-practices/ (accessed 9/12/20). ↩

28. Google. 2020. “Google Privacy Policy”, Google Privacy & Terms, 30 September 2020. https://policies.google.com/privacy (accessed 9/12/20). ↩

29. Huawei. 2020. “Statement About AppGallery and Privacy”, August 2020. https://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/cloudservice/hiapp/privacy-statement.htm?country=DE&branchid=2&language=en (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

30. Huawei. 2020. “[AppGallery] Have Fun with the new HUAWEI AppGallery”, 24 March 2020. https://consumer.huawei.com/en/community/details/%5BAppGallery%5D-Have-Fun-with-the-new-HUAWEI-AppGallery/topicId_80985/ (accessed 10/12/20). ↩

31. Aptoide. 2020. “The Independent Android App Store”. https://en.aptoide.com/company (accessed 9/12/20). ↩

32. Aptoide. 2020. “The game-changing alternative Android app store”. https://en.aptoide.com/company/about-us (accessed 9/12/20). ↩

33. Pires, D. 2016. “Is Aptoide Safe?”, Aptoide Official Blog, 30 November 2016. https://blog.aptoide.com/number-one-reason-why-aptoide-is-safe/ (accessed 10/12/20). ↩

34. F-Droid. 2020. “About”, F-Droid 2020-11-22, fdroid-website 2.24. https://f-droid.org/en/about/ (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

35. Barth, S., de Jong, M.D.T., Junger, M., Hartel, P.H. and Roppelt, J.C. 2019. “Putting the privacy paradox to the test: Online privacy and security behaviors among users with technical knowledge, privacy awareness, and financial resources”, Telematics and Informatics, vol. 41, pp55-69. ↩

36. Wuerthele, M. 2019. “’Privacy. That’s iPhone’ ad campaign launches, highlights Apple’s stance on user protection”, Apple Insider, 14 March 2019. https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/03/14/privacy-thats-iphone-ad-campaign-launches-highlights-apples-stance-on-user-protection (accessed 23/11/20). ↩

37. Griffin, A. 2019. “Apple trolls tech industry with huge billboard advertising iPhone privacy outside CES conference”, Independent, 7 January 2019. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-iphone-ces-2019-latest-billboard-privacy-las-vegas-security-a8715556.html (accessed 23/11/20). ↩

38. Apple. 2020. “New features available with iOS 14”, Apple Inc. https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-14/features/ (accessed 21/11/20). ↩

39. Apple. 2021. “Manage app privacy”, App Store Connect Help, Apple Inc. https://help.apple.com/app-store-connect/#/dev1b4647c5b (accessed 17 February 2021). ↩

40. Apple. 2020. “App privacy details on the App Store”, App Store Developer Support, Apple Inc. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-privacy-details/ (accessed 21/11/20). ↩

41. Apple. 2020. “App privacy details on the App Store”, App Store, Apple Inc. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-privacy-details/ (accessed 18/1/21). ↩

42. Apple. 2020. “Deep Dive - Privacy definitions and examples”, App Store Preview, Apple Inc. https://apps.apple.com/gb/story/id1539235847 (accessed 18/1/21). ↩

43. Fischer. S. 2020. “Scoop: WhatsApp goes after Apple over privacy label requirements”, Axios, 9 December 2020. https://www.axios.com/whatsapp-apple-privacy-label-requirements-cc0d5edd-ab2f-4549-b9d7-ea3c97184056.html (accessed 10/12/20). ↩

44. Apple. 2020. “User Privacy and Data Use”, App Store Developer Support, Apple Inc. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/ (accessed 23/11/20). ↩

45. Nguyen, D.C, Derr, E., Backes, M. and Bugiel, S. 2019. “Short Text, Large Effect: Measuring the Impact of User Reviews on Android App Security & Privacy”, Proceedings of 2019 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, pp555-569. ↩

46. Note that due to the limitations of the study, the assessment of developer documentation was limited to the materials that are accessible without specifically needing to register for the respective developer programmes. However, it was clear from assessment that further related materials are provided via login-controlled sources such as the Google Play Academy, which offers a variety of related learning materials and tutorials to help developers better understand the related good practice (e.g. https://playacademy.exceedlms.com/student/path/63550-security-by-design). ↩

47. Thompson, N. 2017. “Putting security at the heart of app development”, Network Security, November 2017, pp7-8. ↩

48. Apple. 2020. “App Completeness” in App Store Review Guidelines, App Store Developer Support, Apple, Inc., 11 September 2020. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#app-completeness (accessed 19/11/20). ↩

49. Apple. 2020. “Weekly app reviews”, App Store Principles and Practices. https://www.apple.com/uk/ios/app-store/principles-practices/ (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

50. Apple. 2020. “Data Security” in App Store Review Guidelines, App Store Developer Support, Apple, Inc., 11 September 2020. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#data-security (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

51. Apple. 2020. “Protecting the User’s Privacy”, UIKit Developer Documentation, https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/protecting_the_user_s_privacy (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

52. Apple. 2020. “Requesting Access to Protected Resources”, UIKit Developer Documentation. developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/protecting_the_user_s_privacy/requesting_access_to_protected_resources (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

53. Apple. 2020. “Encrypting Your App’s Files”, UIKit Developer Documentation. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/protecting_the_user_s_privacy/encrypting_your_app_s_files (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

54. Google. 2020. “Privacy, Deception and Device Abuse”, Google Policy Center. https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/topic/9877467 (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

55. Google. 2020. “User Data”, Google Play Policy Center, https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9888076#1&2&3&4&5&6&7&87&9 (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

56. Google. 2020. “Developer Program Policy”, Play Console Help, 21 October 2020. https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/10177647 (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

57. Google. 2020. “Prepare your app for review”, Google Policy Center. https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859455 (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

58. Google. 2020 “Declare permissions for your app”, Google Policy Center. https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9214102 (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

59. Google. 2020. “Publish your app”, Google Policy Center. https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859751 (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

60. Huawei. 2020. “Security and Privacy Guidelines”, Developers Document Center. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/distribution/service/hag_security_privacy (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

61. Huawei. 2020. “AppGallery Introduction”, Developers Document Center. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/30205 (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

62. Huawei. 2020. “Safety Detect”, Developers Document Center. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/hms/huawei-safetydetectkit/ (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

63. The term ‘rooting’ refers to the process of privilege escalation to gain additional control on the device. The term is derived from the system administrator (aka superuser) level of access, which is the term ‘root’ user/account in Unix/Linux-based operating systems. Apps running on a rooted device can therefore utilise additional permissions that would not be available in the native mode. At the same time, this additional access is giving capabilities beyond those intended, and can consequently affect the ability to maintain the security of the device. ↩

64. Huawei. 2020. “DataSecurity Engine”, Developers Document Center. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/hms/huawei-datasecurity-engine/ (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

65. Huawei. 2020. “App Review”, Developers Help Center. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/help/16600634 (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

66. Huawei. 2020. “App Review FAQs”, Developers Document Center: Distributing Apps. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/30206. (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

67. Huawei. 2020. “Common Reasons of Rejecting Apps for AppGallery”, Developers Document Center: Distributing Apps. https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/30208. (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

68. Aptoide. 2016. “Uploading an app to your store”, Aptoide Developer guidance. https://aptoide.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000366423-Uploading-an-app-to-your-store (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

69. Cimpanu, C. 2020. “Details of 20 million Aptoide app store users leaked on hacking forum”, ZDNet, 17 April 2020. https://www.zdnet.com/article/details-of-20-million-aptoide-app-store-users-leaked-on-hacking-forum/ (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

70. F-Droid. 2020. “Inclusion Policy”, F-Droid 2020-11-22, fdroid-website 2.24. https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Inclusion_Policy/ (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

71. F-Droid. 2020. “Anti-Features”, F-Droid 2020-11-22, fdroid-website 2.24. https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Anti-Features/ (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

72. F-Secure. 2020. DROZER. F-Secure Labs. https://labs.f-secure.com/tools/drozer/ (accessed 24/11/20) ↩

73. F-Droid. 2020. “FAQ - App Developers”, F-Droid 2020-11-22, fdroid-website 2.24. https://f-droid.org/en/docs/FAQ_-_App_Developers (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

74. GetJar. 2014. “Terms”, GetJar. 9 May 2014. https://www.getjar.com/info/terms (accessed 9/12/20). ↩

75. GetJar. 2020. “How GetJar works for developers”, https://www.getjar.com/how-it-works (accessed 9/12/20). ↩

76. Cydia. 2020. “Cydia App Store”, Cydia App website. https://cydia-app.com (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

77. Cydia. 2020. “What is Cydia?”, Cydia App website. https://cydia-app.com/about/ (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

78. Cydia. 2019. “Hide – Bypass iPhone Jailbreak Detection”, Cydia App website, 12 May 2019. https://cydia-app.com/jailbreak-detection/ (accessed 8/12/20). ↩

79. Apple. 2020. “Example Payouts”, Apple Security Bounty. https://developer.apple.com/security-bounty/payouts/ (accessed 23/11/20). ↩

80. Google. 2020. “Android Security Rewards Program Rules”, Google Application Security, https://www.google.co.uk/about/appsecurity/android-rewards/ (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

81. Google. 2020. “Chrome Vulnerability Reward Program Rules”, Google Application Security, https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/chrome-rewards/ (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

82. Google. 2020. “Google Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP) Rules”, Google Application Security, https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/reward-program/index.html (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

83. Google. 2020. “Google Play Security Reward Program Rules”, Google Application Security, https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/play-rewards/ (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

84. Google. 2020. “Common types of non-qualifying reports”, Google Bughunter University, https://sites.google.com/site/bughunteruniversity/nonvuln (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

85. Brewster, T. 2019. “Huawei Beats Google—Offers $220,000 For ‘Zero-Click’ Android Phone Hacks”, Forbes, 18 November 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/11/18/huawei-beats-google-in-offering-220000-to-hackers-who-find-android-backdoors/ (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

86. Lin, J. 2019. “Expanding the Android Security Rewards Program”, Google Security Blog, 21 November 2019. https://security.googleblog.com/2019/11/expanding-android-security-rewards.html (accessed 5/12/20). ↩

87. Weir, C., Rashid, A. and Noble, J. 2017. “I’d Like to Have an Argument, Please: Using Dialectic for Effective App Security”, in Proceedings of EuroUSEC 2017. Internet Society, FRA. ISBN 1891562452 ↩

88. Ranganath, V.P. and Mitra, J. 2019. “Are free Android app security analysis tools effective in detecting known vulnerabilities?”, Empirical Software Engineering, vol. 25, pp178-219. ↩

89. Chebyshev, V. 2020. “ IT threat evolution Q2 2020. Mobile statistics”, SecureList, 3 September 2020. https://securelist.com/it-threat-evolution-q2-2020-mobile-statistics/98337/ (accessed 4/12/20). ↩

90. Firsh, A. 2019. “Beware of stalkerware: Research on commercial surveillance software”, SecureList, 3 April 2019. https://securelist.com/beware-of-stalkerware/90264/ (accessed 24/1/20). ↩

91. Bashan, A. 2016. “Mobile Security: Why App Stores Don’t Keep Users Safe”, Dark Reading, 24 March 2016. https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities—threats/mobile-security-why-app-stores-dont-keep-users-safe/a/d-id/1324829 (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

92. La Porta, L. 2019. “Trojan malware infecting 17 apps on the App Store”, Wandera, 24 October 2019. https://www.wandera.com/ios-trojan-malware/ (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

93. Høegh-Omdal, J. 2020. “StrandHogg 2.0 - The ‘evil twin’”, Promon, 26 May 2020. https://promon.co/strandhogg-2-0/ (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

94. Herman, J. 2020. 2019 Mobile App Threat Landscape Report, RiskIQ, Inc. February 2020. https://www.riskiq.com/resources/research/2019-mobile-threat-landscape-report/ (accessed 18/11/20). ↩

95. Kotzias, P., Caballero, J. and Bilge, L. 2020. “How Did That Get In My Phone? Unwanted App Distribution on Android Devices”, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2010.10088.pdf (accessed 18/11/20). ↩

96. Google. 2020. “Help protect against harmful apps with Google Play Protect”, Google Account Help. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/2812853?hl=en (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

97. It should be noted that there are more general ‘mobile security’ apps from a variety of providers, including many that are best known for their provision of anti-malware / anti-virus protection. However, inspection of the feature lists in these cases reveals that while they commonly offer security-related functions (such as scam prevention, safe browsing, VPN and Wi-Fi protection, and iOS update reminders) they do not include anything relating to scanning the device for malware (even if the name of the app would otherwise appear to suggest that it does). ↩

98. Yablokov, V. 2018. “Why there’s no antivirus for iOS”, Kaspersky Daily, 10 September 2018. https://www.kaspersky.co.uk/blog/ios-security-explainer/14425/ (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

99. Apple. 2020. “App security overview”, Apple Platform Security. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec35dd877d0/1/web/1 (accessed 7/12/20). ↩

100. Cai, H., Fu, X. and Hamou-Lhadj, A. 2020. “A study of run-time behavioral evolution of benign versus malicious apps in android”, Information and Software Technology, vol. 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2020.106291 ↩

101. Wang, W., Li, Y., Wang, X., Liu, J. and Zhang, X. 2017. “Detecting Android malicious apps and categorizing benign apps with ensemble of classifiers”, Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 78, pp987-994. ↩

102. Kaspersky. 2020. “Top 7 Mobile Security Threats in 2020”, Kaspersky Resource Centre. https://www.kaspersky.co.uk/resource-center/threats/top-seven-mobile-security-threats-smart-phones-tablets-and-mobile-internet-devices-what-the-future-has-in-store (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

103. La Porta, L. 2019. “App vetting: How do you measure the risk level of risky apps?”, Wandera, 5 January 2019. https://www.wandera.com/risky-apps/ (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

104. La Porta, L. 2019. “iOS app permissions - are your apps asking too much?”, Wandera, 22 July 2019. https://www.wandera.com/ios-app-permissions/ (accessed 16/11/20). ↩

105. Kaspersky Lab. 2016. “One-In-Five Could Be Signing Away Their Privacy When They Install A New App, Kaspersky Lab’s Quiz Shows”, Press Release, 16 March 2016. https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2016_one-in-five-could-be-signing-away-their-privacy-when-they-install-a-new-app-kaspersky-lab-s-quiz-shows (accessed 24/11/20). ↩

106. Kaspersky Lab. 2017. “My Precious Data: Digital clutter and its dangers”, Kaspersky daily, 15 March 2017. https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/my-precious-data-report-one/14093/ (accessed 28/11/20). ↩

107. ICO. 2013. Privacy in mobile apps - Guidance for app developers. Information Commissioner’s Office. December 2013. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1596/privacy-in-mobile-apps-dp-guidance.pdf (accessed 6/12/20). ↩