Google confirms removal of malicious Android apps

NEWS

After several days of silence on the issue, Google has confirmed it removed several malicious apps from its Android Market earlier this week and said it would remove the apps from users' devices as well.

Google confirmed it removed
 malicious apps from the Android Market.Photo credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET News

Only devices running an Android version earlier than version 2.2.2 were susceptible to the rogue apps, which took advantage of known vulnerabilities, the company reported late on Saturday in the Google Mobile blog. The company believes the only information accessed by the apps were the unique codes used to identify the the specific device and the version of Android that it was running.

Google identified 58 malicious apps and removed them on Tuesday, but not before they were downloaded to about 260,000 devices. Google said it would use a kill switch to remotely remove the apps from users' devices and push an Android security update to affected users to repair the damage done by the apps. Affected users can expect to receive an email from Android Market support explaining the action, Google said.

Google removes Grooveshark app from Android Market

NEWS

Google has removed Grooveshark's music app from the Android Market, a move that comes after some of the top music labels have accused the service of violating copyright law, sources said.

Google has removed the Grooveshark music app from the Android Market. Photo credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET News

"We remove apps from Android Market that violate our policies," a Google spokesman said in response to questions from ZDNet UK's sister site CNET News. He did not specify what violations Grooveshark may have committed or whether Google had been pressured by the music industry to remove the app.

Grooveshark, based in Gainesville, Florida, is a service that offers free music by enabling users to post their own tracks to the site and then share them with other users. The service, which boasts more than six million songs, was accused by EMI in a lawsuit of copyright violations, a case that was settled in 2009 when Grooveshark agreed to licence the label's catalog.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Google boots Grooveshark from Android Market on CNET News.