"CERN Single Sign-On" on my Android phone will not let me uninstall it

[slow]

Hi. Maybe you can help me. My cell phone is Moto E (second generation) and it has installed Android 5.0.2. Yesterday I decided to explore the system and the applications a bit. I was somewhat surprised at the next section.

Google Ajusted> Connected apps> All apps

Nothing of what was there interested me and I started to disconnect applications. It was impossible to disconnect one of them, which is there without my having agreed to install it and without my knowing. His name is CERN Single Sign-On and for what android informs, that application is completely owner of the cell phone and it has on the system and on all the functions more access and more control than me, up to very comprehensive and very deep levels. In my family and my friends nobody has that application on their cell phone. Two questions.

1. Has someone who is reading this note?

2. Is there someone who knows the truth about that application?

I'm really alarmed by the uncertainty of something that sneaks up, takes full control and disconnection at the user's will is impossible. Thank you very much in advance.

 

[jedishrfu]

Google does have single sign on:

https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/2758865?hl=en

I could not see what the app names were though... others might not use single sign on and so wouldn’t have it on their phones maybe.

Here’s some stuff on G suite apps:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/3035792#

 

[jedishrfu]

Perhaps you could post a screenshot of the directory with the app

 

[rootone]

What happens if you try to uninstall the app in the usual way, as you would with a game you are no longer interested in?

 

[jtbell]

CERN Single Sign-On (SSO) appears to be a real thing at CERN:

http://information-technology.web.cern.ch/services/SSO-Service

Not much information on that page, but the links at the right side, under SERVICE HELP, go to a separate .com site with more information.

Did you get that phone from someone who once worked at CERN?

 

[slow]

Google does have single sign on:
https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/2758865?hl=en

That page specify the steps for get the service. Fisrst steps:
Some G Suite, Education, and Government customers use a Single Sign-On (SSO) solution for users to sign into their G Suite accounts. If this is the case with your organization, follow the steps below to sync your G Suite account with your Android device.
Depending on your SSO service, you should only need to do this process once. G Suite customers without SSO should instead follow these setup instructions.
Requirements:
G Suite, Education, or Government domain configured for SSO
Android 2.1+ device

Sign into your G Suite account via SSO:
Add your G Suite account.
Android 2.1–2.3 users—go to Settings > Accounts and sync > Add account > Google and touch Next.
Android 3.0–4.4.4 users—go to Settings > Add account > Google and touch Next.
Android 5.0+ users—go to Settings > Accounts > Add account >Google.
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On that page, it clearly specifies that to enable Single Sign-On requires a set of procedures that can not happen accidentally. In addition, the Single Sign-On service is assigned to a specific user, in this case ... the CERN! It is not a service with multivalidation. It is valid only for one specific and registered user. I have never asked for that service or any other similar ... has CERN requested it to be activated on my device? I really do not understand it and it gives me an impression that is far from what is expected.

Perhaps you could post a screenshot of the directory with the app

What happens if you try to uninstall the app in the usual way, as you would with a game you are no longer interested in?

In the screenshot you can see two details. 1) I have disabled a large number of applications and services that I do not want. That's why everything I have active fits in a single view of the display and there's still room. 2) The display does not show Single Sign-On as an application that the owner of the cell phone can handle. The application is hidden from the owner. For the same reason, the option to uninstall it does not appear either, as I have uninstalled whatsapp and all the others that do not interest me. I did not request Single Sign-On, CERN requested it for my device and it was kept hidden in all the screens that the owner normally looks at. And where only the cellular technical service would look, it appears but it is impossible to deactivate it.

CERN Single Sign-On (SSO) appears to be a real thing at CERN:
http://information-technology.web.cern.ch/services/SSO-Service
Did you get that phone from someone who once worked at CERN?

Yes, it is real. That page specify the following:
Services responsible for user authentication on central machines managed by IT:
The Single Sign-On service provides a solution allowing Web based applications to authenticate users and retrieve their information including their group membership to manage authorizations.
The Account Management Service (formerly known as FIM) provides all the tools to centrally manage computer accounts and resource authorization for end users, supervisors, the service desk and security team.
SERVICE HELP
Single Sign On and Account Management Services in the Service Portal
Knowledge Base
Report an incident
Submit a general request
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When the G series was overtaken by competitors, an offer appeared at a large discount if you bought 2. With someone I trust, we bought them, because we do not depend on games or high-tech imaging, or all that. The other person's cell phone does not have Single Sign-On. The cell phone went from the store to my hand. I never had a relationship with CERN. CERN has never contacted me, which is fine, because nothing of me or my cell phone can be interesting for CERN.

 

[jedishrfu]

It could be malware masquerading as the CERN single signings app.

In any event, there’s nothing more I can add here.

You could try resetting things back to factory settings and reinstalling your apps. Make backup first in case things don’t work out.

 

[Psinter]

Reset it. If it is still there, it came with the rom. Just root it and install an app to uninstall system apps.

Though before reseting I would check first if the phone is already rooted to rule out that I got sold a used cellphone.

 

[slow]

It could be malware masquerading as the CERN single signings app.

In case of being a malware, it does not deserve the job of emptying the cell phone and then reinstalling everything, because it does not cause problems. Everything works perfectly and very fast, although I use it in 3G. Is it our duty to inform CERN that malware has been launched in your name?

Reset it. If it is still there, it came with the rom.

It is not the first time that I do cleaning in the system. The other two times there was not the Single Sign-On application. That means I was not there when I bought the cell phone. And as I said, if it's a malware it does not affect the use I give the device. I prefer to let it live there, because Android does not offer viruses very easily to do damage.
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A question referring to something I have not mentioned before. With the cell phone I use internet search engines to look for very specific keywords, which are very infrequently statistically. Obviously searches of physics issues. Could this be a suspicious activity, which causes monitoring from CERN?

 

[jedishrfu]

One, malware tries to live quietly on your device. It will often mimic well-known applications if possible to hide itself well.

I don't think CERN is monitoring you. I think that there is a logical reason for what you see even if it's not so obvious now.

In summary, there is no conspiracy theory here.

 

[slow]

In summary, there is no conspiracy theory here.

Then I can remain calm and leave the system as it is, because it does not cause discomfort. Many thanks to all the people who came and gave valuable help.

 

[jedishrfu]

I would still research why you got that app there. It still could be malware.

 

[jedishrfu]

There are CERN apps on the iOS AppStore and on google play

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2018/01/cern-scientists-release-free-vpn-for-android/

Perhaps you tried to use proton vpn or proton mail and got CERN single sign on along with it.

 

[slow]

I would still research why you got that app there. It still could be malware.

Perhaps you tried to use proton vpn or proton mail and got CERN single sign on along with it.

I never tried anything of that. And I only manage the email from the desktop computer. My cell phone is for voice calls, text messages in the old style, I do not watch videos and on the internet I only look for physics information. I do not handle banking information over the Internet, neither with my cell phone nor with my PC. I do not handle shopping, nor do I look for products for sale, nor all that people usually do, like searching and listening to music, etc. My cell phone is ascetic. Nothing of my interests or of my life goes through the cell phone. A malware can at most spoil system functions, but so far it has not. And the previous cleaning was more than a year ago. If we divide the time and assume that I have been with the virus for half a year, it has been a benign half year. Everything continues to work well and fast, without errors, without unexpected stops, without loss of infirmation, without furtive interruption in the view of pages, or in the use of off-line applications, such as the audio recording app that I use, or the PDF Reader. Curiosity asks to investigate the origin of the malware. Comfort and good sense say that if everything works well, let the malware live where it was installed and do not touch the system. We all know Ohm's law. There is a much more fruitful law. The law of Ons, enunciated by Jorge Ons, a telecommunications engineer, head of a large technical service. He always recommended "if they sent you for a supposed failure and when you arrived you found everything right, leave everything as it is, never touch something when it does not fail". Then ... Ons law.