A field technician is asked to investigate a user's Android phone that slowed to a crawl after the user sideloaded a "free premium" version of a popular social-media app from an unofficial site. The icon and app name appear identical to the legitimate product, but the package identifier and publisher information do not match the vendor, and the app is generating unexplained outbound traffic. Which mobile security issue is most likely occurring?
The screen-rotation sensor is malfunctioning
The operating system failed to apply the latest update
The device was rooted without the user's knowledge
The scenario describes an app that imitates the real program's icon and title but is published under a different package name. This deception tricks users into installing what they think is the genuine application, when in fact it is malicious and phones home, explaining the unexplained outbound traffic and degraded performance. That behavior matches application spoofing. Root access, OS update failure, and a screen-rotation problem are unrelated to an app disguising itself as a legitimate one.
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What is application spoofing?
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Why is sideloading apps risky?
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