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One of the main defenses against malicious applications are permissions, which prevent them from having access to various functions or files if the user does not grant them. However, when it comes to beauty apps or filters, it might not be enough: Cybernews has discovered at least one photography app that accesses the camera even when it doesn't have permission to do so and many more with suspicious behavior among the 30 most downloaded .

The programs analyzed exceed 1.3 billion total downloads among all of them. Cybernews analyzed their behavior, their origin (16 of them come from China or Hong Kong) and the requested permits. His final recommendation was to erase any of them and resort only to the filters of applications of proven developers, such as Snapchat, Instagram or Messenger.

Thus, for example, BeautyPlus - Easy Photo Editor & Selfie Camera , which ranks first in the category of beauty apps and exceeds 300 million installations, "was identified as malware or spyware." Its developer, they explain, is suspected of storing user data on servers in China and then selling this information. And it is not the only one.

In its investigation, the firm also found a developer who has created malicious adware and another who was accused of sending pornographic content to users, redirecting them to phishing sites and saving their photographs. There is also a group of applications that tries to go through different tools, although they all belong to the same group.

Perhaps the best example is Beauty Camera developed by Phila AppStore and installed about 500,000 times. Although he did not request access to the camera - a permission considered by Google as dangerous -, he was able to open it and take photographs.

Although the research focuses on the 30 most popular apps, Cybernews recommends distrust of anyone requesting permits that, in principle, does not need (one of them requests access to the contact list, 13 to the GPS location and 23 to the microphone) , whose developer is not known (especially in the case of free ones) or who shows aggressive advertising or suspicious behavior.

The complete list of the analyzed applications is as follows:

Beauty applications

Drop down

BeautyPlus - Easy Photo Editor & Selfie Camera

Beautycam

Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera

Selfie Camera - Beauty Camera & Photo Editor

Beauty Camera Plus - Sweet Camera & Makeup Photo

Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera & Photo Editor

YouCam Perfect - Best Selfie Camera & Photo Editor

Sweet Snap - Beauty Selfie Camera & Face Filter

Sweet Selfie Snap - Sweet Camera & Beauty Cam Snap

Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera with Photo Editor

Beauty Camera - Best Selfie Camera & Photo Editor

B612 - Beauty & Filter Camera

Face Makeup Camera & Beauty Photo Makeup Editor

Sweet Selfie - Selfie Camera & Makeup Photo Editor

Selfie camera - Beauty Camera & Makeup camera

YouCam Perfect - Best Photo Editor & Selfie Camera

Beauty Camera Makeup Face Selfie, Photo Editor

Selfie Camera - Beauty Camera

Z Beauty Camera

HD Camera Selfie Beauty Camera

Candy Camera - selfie, beauty camera & photo editor

Makeup Camera-Selfie Beauty Filter Photo Editor

Beauty Selfie Plus - Sweet Camera Wonder HD Camera

Selfie Camera - Beauty Camera & AR Stickers

Pretty Makeup, Beauty Photo Editor & Selfie Camera

Beauty camera

Bestie - Camera360 Beauty Cam

Photo Editor - Beauty Camera

Beauty Makeup, Selfie Camera Effects & Photo Editor

Selfie cam - Bestie Makeup Beauty Camera & Filters

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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