Android black hat app story was bogus!

Android users can relax again, in the knowledge that the Android OS is just as safe today as ever; despite yesterday’s incorrect reports of a malicious app that was on millions of Android users devices!

Yesterday, the blogosphere was full of stories about an Android wallpaper app, which was reportedly collecting sensitive user data and sending it off to a server in China.  LookOut (the firm who reported this supposed security problem) has since issued a statement saying that in fact, the app was NOT showing any malicious behaviour.

The problem here is that those stories are all still out there, indexed and searchable – Just waiting for potential, new Android users to find them and be wrongly alarmed.

Unbelievably, Venturebeat, The Wall Street Journal, CNET, Yahoo News, Fast Company and scores of other BIG outlets carried this story, even though it was based on the findings of a single security company.  In fact, such was the traction generated by this story, that The Inquirer is still reporting it as news today!

Of course, anything related to Android is big news, so there was a rush to get that story out there.  As a result, the news went viral and the toothpaste was well and truly out of the tube, by the time it became obvious there was nothing malicious to report.

If I were Jackeey Wu (the app developer) or Google, I’d be REALLY pissed right now.