The Government of Iro has launched an application allegedly to help detect cases of coronavirus in the country and thereby mitigate the pressure in hospitals. The AC19 app, as it was dubbed, is being accused of sending spam from the government itself, leading many to believe that it is an action to monitor people through their personal data and geolocation.
It is certain that, according to Zdnet advances, Google has already removed the application from the store, although without explanation of the reason. The app is believed to be misleading, as the virus cannot be detected through an application. However, the Android malware investigator, Lukas Stefanko, made an app analysis at the request of the publication and considers that it does not have any type of malware or malicious trojans.
The app, which has still been downloaded 4 million times (according to a message from the Minister of Information and Technology, MJ Azari Jahromi), asked users to answer questions related to coronavirus symptoms. The person himself sent mass SMS to people to install the app. It should be considered that at this moment the country has already had 354 deaths from coronavirus and 9,000 positive cases.
The app was produced by the company Smart Land Strategy, under the wing of the Iranian government. The company is known for making clones of social networking apps like Telegram, these linked to the spread of malicious files, developed with the guidance of Iranian secret services. The company's association with malware history is the reason for all suspicions.
Even outside the Google store, the app is being made available, via APK on its website.
