Security experts recommend not installing these apps on your phone

In recent weeks, tech news headlines have been filled with negative news about data leaks, apps stealing your personal information, and hackers wreaking havoc, and this trend will continue in 2021. Foreign media Reader's Digest recently compiled some problematic mobile apps and said that if you have these apps installed on your phone, please uninstall them immediately. The best way to avoid installing these problematic apps is to download apps only from legitimate app stores and strictly limit app permissions.

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The app currently has more than 500 million users worldwide, with 500,000 new registered users every day. However, Ana Bera, a cybersecurity expert from Safe at Last, said: "Cybersecurity experts have discovered that the app installs a malicious component that acts as a Trojan downloader and continuously collects infected files. This kind of app can seriously damage your phone and should be uninstalled immediately. Fortunately, once you delete it from your phone, it is unlikely to continue to harm you."

Multiple weather apps

"You should check your weather app. There are several weather apps out there that have been infected with Trojans and other malware. They will say they are accessing your information for weather accuracy, but that is highly questionable," said TechLoris CEO Shayne Sherman. If you have the Good Weather app installed, uninstall it immediately. "It is very dangerous," he said.

Flash Application

“I bet you never realized this,” said Harold Li, vice president of consumer privacy and security company ExpressVPN. “Free flashlight apps often present a very high cybersecurity risk. Many of these apps are free but ad-supported, and they often request permissions like audio recording and contact information, apparently in order to function properly. When users install these apps, they potentially share their personal data with the app developers, who then profit by selling the data to advertisers.”

Li recommends deleting the apps completely and then updating any social media or email passwords on your phone. You can also write to the companies and ask them to delete all your data. Under some national and state laws, consumers have the right to request that all their data be deleted.

While Li couldn't recommend any safe alternatives, he did say this: "Most phones these days already have built-in flashlight features, so you really don't need to install another free app that might be collecting and selling your data."

Facebook Family Bucket

Facebook's family of apps is also mentioned as a category in the report, which includes the main Facebook app, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook-owned WhatsApp. For example, according to Dave Salisbury, director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Data Intelligence at the University of Dayton, Instagram asks for multiple permissions, including but not limited to modifying and reading contacts and your storage, locating your phone, reading your call logs, modifying system settings, and having full network access."

Meanwhile, both the iOS and Android versions of WhatsApp have been the target of a vulnerability that involves sending a message that, when opened by the recipient, allows an attacker to gain access to everything WhatsApp has access to, such as the camera and the phone's contact list, without the recipient's knowledge.