July 6th, 2010 by lhaasRecently, some were surprised to learn that Google had the ability to remotely remove applications from Android devices. They were even more surprised to learn that Google also has the ability to install applications remotely.
As the article below goes on to point out, this raises both privacy and security questions. While some fear that Google might force the installation of certain applications, the bigger fear may be that some hacker could manipulate this function and spread malicious applications.
Definitely something to be wary of.
The remote-wipe capability that Google recently invoked to remove a harmless application from some Android phones isn’t the only remote control feature that the company built into its mobile OS. It turns out that Android also includes a feature that enables Google to remotely install apps on user’ phones as well.
Jon Oberheide, the security researcher who developed the application that Google remotely removed from Android phones, noticed during his research that the Android OS includes a feature called INSTALL_ASSET that allows Google to remotely install applications on users’ phones.
via Android Also Gives Google Remote App Installation Power | threatpost.
