Although Baidu’s apps are probably relatively rarely used in Taiwan, they are basically essential apps for people who often need to travel to and from mainland China. If you currently have Baidu apps installed on your phone, you may want to be careful. Recently, researchers revealed that two Baidu Android Apps: “Baidu Maps” and “Baidu” were found to monitor users’ sensitive data. This not only seriously infringes privacy, but may also expose user data to the risk of cybercrime. It may not only be the Android version, but also the two Apps downloaded elsewhere.
Two Baidu Android Apps were exposed to monitor users’ sensitive data
According to Paloalto researchers, the Push Baidu Software Development Kit (SDK) in the two apps “Baidu Maps” and “Baidu” is continuously transmitting users’ sensitive data to Chinese servers, including mobile phone models, IMSI identification codes, and Mac addresses. Although this information may seem harmless, IMSI is a unique identification code for users given by telecom operators, so even if users change their phones, they can still be tracked through IMSI and IMEI identification codes:
Researchers also emphasized that the data leakage problem of these two Android applications and SDKs seriously infringes on user privacy and may be threatened by cybercrime. For example, interested parties can use this leaked information to detect and call, tell the user that he is a bank employee, and then ask for bank-related information, thereby stealing money:
Paloalto also reported this situation to Google officials. These two apps were forcibly removed from Google Play on October 28, which means about a month ago, but Google did not explain any reasons at the time. Then Baidu also updated the Baidu App (now calledBaidu Mobile), and successfully re-listed, but the Baidu map still does not appear:
Another thing to note is that Paloalto only checks the Google Play version, but they believe that both apps in other App stores may be affected, so those who have installed them can consider deleting them if they are worried.
Source: KOCPC Chinese