Wireless and Mobile Device Security, 2nd Edition

Madware

As mentioned, madware is a form of very aggressive adware that is prevalent on mobile devices. Due to the way the “free application” business model works on the Internet, developers consider madware to be not only harmless but a legitimate aspect of application behavior. Although some free applications that use advertisements as a revenue source are legitimate and benign, others run background processes that access GPS information, scan address books, and send out stolen data via HTTP to third-party APIs. Some also track and share location details, browsing histories, and contact lists, often with the phone owner’s unknowing permission.

Of course, developers maintain that the terms of use have been explicitly stated and that the user’s ...