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Android has remote-kill functionality for apps

Google has "developed technologies and processes to remotely remove an installed application from devices."
Written by David Meyer, Contributor

Google can remotely remove applications from Android smartphones, the company revealed on Wednesday.

In a blog post, Android security lead Rich Cannings said Google had "developed technologies and processes to remotely remove an installed application from devices" for use "in cases where users may have installed a malicious application that poses a threat". The iOS operating system used in the iPhone and iPad gives Apple similar power to remove apps from their customers' phones.

According to Cannings, Google recently decided to exercise this power in the case of two free applications that had been made available by a security researcher, for his or her research purposes. "These applications intentionally misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage user downloads, but they were not designed to be used maliciously and did not have permission to access private data — or system resources beyond permission.INTERNET," Cannings wrote.

For more on this story, read Android has remote-kill functionality for apps on ZDNet UK.

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