A new report has claimed that Lenovo Android phones and many others run spyware apps and the apps come pre-installed. The report also says other phones may be having the same security issue.

These apps work behind the scenes to mine data. It collects different types of user information. The apps collect a user's text messages and also call logs in addition to specifications such as IMEI, IMSI, MAC address, version number and operator. The worst part is that all these are carried out with the user's consent.

Security research outfit Trustlook, in a report, has specifically mentioned the smartphone manufacturers whose devices contain such apps and that include some known brands such as Lenovo, ZTE and Archos. However, most of the manufacturers are smaller China-based ones.

This issue came to the fore when security firm Kryptowire discovered that Chinese firmware company Adups was spying on text messages, call logs, contact lists and location information sent by Blu R1 HD phones in USA, reports Greenbot. The issue seems to be very much out of hand at the moment and is more widespread.

As per Trustlook's report, over 700 million Android smartphones have Adups firmware installed. This should be seen as a wakeup call for manufacturers and they must do something real fast to patch the issue. ZTE has denied any of its phones in the US has ever had the Adups software. When The New York Times reported the original issue back in November, Adups said that the software was only meant to identify junk text messages and calls.

However, Adups admitted that installing the app on US phones was a mistake. Mobile phone security has become a joke these days as the Android platform is very susceptible to malware and spyware. While Blu handled this most sensitive issue by taking appropriate actions, it will be interesting to see how the other manufacturers deal with the threat.