According to Kaspersky’s 2023 Global Threat Report, 32% of the modified apps on third-party app stores (e.g., Spotify MOD) contain malicious code modules, 15% of which seize device microphone permissions (with a frequency of up to 3 times per hour). This also made the peak CPU load rise to 220% of the normal level (test data from Mediatek Dimensity 9200). Let’s use Spotify MOD as an example. Its cracking algorithm has the tendency to bypass SSL certificate verification, which raises the success rate of man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM) from 2.3% (standard version) to 19%. Moreover, there is a 41% higher risk of users’ privacy data leakage (refer to the incident in 2022 when 27,000 Brazilian users’ credit card records were compromised due to their use of Spotify MOD).
At the compliance level, Spotify officially determines abnormal accounts by modeling behavior analysis. Statistics in 2022 show that 58% of users who used the MOD version were banned within three months, and the probability of their device IMEI being blacklisted was as high as 73% (refer to the RIAA’s lawsuit case against streaming media piracy in 2021). Technically, third-party APKs often contain ad SDKs (7-12 on average per app launch), which makes traffic consumption 18%-35% more (Ericsson’s 2023 Mobile Report), and can also lead to system service conflicts, making the application crash rate 4.2 times that of the official version (Android 13 test data).
From the hardware wear and tear perspective, third-party research institute DeviceScan found that Spotify MOD shortened the lithium battery cycle life by 23% with background encrypted mining scripts (accounting for 8% of the samples) and increased the possibility of exhausting the number of NAND flash memory write times by 37%. Taking the Samsung Galaxy S23 as an example. After 6 months of continuous use of this type of APK, the rate of battery health decrease rises to 2.1% per month (0.7% for normal version), and the peak device temperature can reach as high as 44.3°C (36.5°C when gaming normally).
On the legal risk side, the EU’s Digital Services Act stipulates that the dissemination or utilization of cracked software can be penalized with a fine of up to 4% of global revenue (Spotify’s 2022 revenue was 11.3 billion euros, so the fine would be more than 450 million euros). If a user is sued for such actions, the median private legal defense expense is 12,000 euros (a 2023 ruling of the Munich District Court in Germany). Moreover, leftover files of Spotify MOD that are not completely uninstalled can be identified as criminal evidence by forensic tools (e.g., Cellebrite) with an error rate of up to 14% (a case of wrongful accusations by the Dutch police in 2022).
Though subscribers can save $119.88 per year in subscription fees with Spotify MOD, according to a 2023 University of Cambridge study, the total risk cost (data recovery, device repair, and legal fees altogether) incurred is approximately 3.7 times the savings. Experiments by cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks have confirmed that the chances of devices that install these APKs getting injected with ransomware are increased to nine times that of regular users, and the median ransom payment for decryption keys has reached 0.3 BTC (around $18,000), far greater than the economic benefits of subscription services.