Cybercrime: Who's responsible for a malware app on a website?

Hi all,

I wonder, whose responsibility it is if a malware app (for phone for example) is found on a website such as Google Play store, Apple store, or another. The operator website, the developer of the app or ... ?

All thoughts are welcome!

 

The legal responsibility would fall with the developer/publisher of the specified app. Google would quickly remove it though as they have experts who look into submitted apk's before even allowing them near the store. Granted, they don't find all of these harmful apps, but they find most, and if one did slip through the net it wouldn't be long before it was taken down, and if Google were confident they could identify the creator, they'd probably pass it on to the law enforcement agencies.

 

I seem to have a problem with this way of interpreting the law. It's clearly stated in the constitution that ignorance cannot justify people out of guilt. Just because it's hard to check every app it shouldn't mean Google should be exempt from having to pay. Afterall, all apps have to be legally approved by google the moment a publisher decides to launch his app on Google's Store.

Why one can sue a supermarket if the product they sell is harmful, unlawful etc. but not a site?

 

It's not so much the law, more the terms & conditions that companies like Google use. I don't have time to go through their millions of pages of terms & conditions, and nor would I want to if I did have the time, but you can bet your ass there's something like this in there:

"You agree that Google is in no way accountable for any loss or damage, whether financial or physical, as a result of your use of any app on the Google Play Store."

 

The user agreement, both for using the Play Store as a user, and as a developer, states that you're solely responsible for whatever happens to your equipment and/or repercussions you get while using any of the available software. The creator of the app would be the one responsible and legally accountable - Google only provides a collection of links (granted, with an approval stamp, but that stamp only tells you that the standard issue of tests haven't found anything harmful - there are ways around those). Given that a lot of apps on the Play Store contains elements that might brick your phone, demands that you have rooted your phone, etc. it's obvious that Google takes no responsibility for damage occuring.
Also remember that a lot of apps have ads in them, and ads can contain malware as well - ie. it might not be the actual app you've downloaded, and which is approved by Google. It's often easier to sneak malicious code in via ads (maybe not the actual ads, but what shows up when you click on one) and so on and so forth.

 

"It's clearly stated in the constitution that ignorance cannot justify people out of guilt."

The Constitution says no such thing. It is a well known legal principle, however, but is not part of the US Constitution.

 

publisher or developer

 

cyber criminals
Cyber-criminals use malware to turn large profits by:Stealing confidential data, creating spam, by stealing financial information, hijacking user sessions, displaying and clicking ads, making fraudulent purchases