In a worrying development for any Android worshippers out there, security software experts SMobile Systems has released a report which claims that one in five Android mobile phone applications is insecure.

"Some of the apps could make calls and send text messages without the mobile user doing anything."

SMobile Systems said that 20% of the 48,000 apps in the Android marketplace allow a third-party application access to sensitive or private information.

Dan Hoffman, CTO at SMobile Systems warned that just because it’s coming from a known location like the Android market or the Apple App Store that doesn’t mean you can assume that the app isn’t malicious or that it has undergone a proper vetting process.

An Inquirer report on the matter tells how, “Some of the apps could make calls and send text messages without the mobile user doing anything, the report said. Also, more than five% of the apps can place calls to any number and two% can allow an app to send unknown SMS messages to premium numbers. SMobile Systems said that dozens of apps were found to have the same type of access to sensitive information as spyware.”

As the Inquirer notes, a report like this from a company such as SMobile is usually all done to sell more security software but the findings are still interesting nonetheless. Indeed, the area of apps security will be a well trodden subject over the next year to 18 months.