Study Finds Chinese and Russian Code in One in Eight Military Apps

More than one in eight mobile apps marketed to US military personnel contain software built by companies in China, Russia, or other foreign nations, according to a new study by researchers at Purdue University, West Point, and Florida International University. Source: Ars Technica, WIRED

The study examined over 220 apps—ranging from uniform guides to dating apps—from the Google Play store and military subreddits. One popular app used to rate base living conditions included code from Huawei, the Chinese telecom flagged as a national security threat in 2020. Two others incorporated Russian ad service Yandex. Source: Ars Technica, WIRED

Data collection concerns: Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the apps contained third-party SDKs that can track user behavior and location. 40% collected or shared more data than disclosed in their app store listings. While the most common SDKs came from Google and Facebook, 76 SDKs traced back to countries including China, Russia, Israel, India, and Germany. Source: WIRED

Real-world threat: In April, US Central Command acknowledged receiving multiple threat reports of adversaries exploiting commercial location data to target or surveil American personnel in the Middle East. Lawmakers called this "the first official confirmation" that troops in an active war zone were being hunted through the data-broker economy. Source: Ars Technica, WIRED