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Own an Android Smartphone? Hackers can install any malicious third-party app on your smartphone remotely even if you have clearly tapped a reject button of the app. Security researchers have uncovered a trojanized adware family that has the capability to automatically install any app on an Android device by abusing the operating system's accessibility features. Michael Bentley , head of response at mobile security firm Lookout, warned in a blog post published Thursday that the team has found three adware families: Shedun (GhostPush) Kemoge (ShiftyBug) Shuanet Also Read:  Android Malware Can Spy On You Even When Your Mobile Is Off All the three adware families root-infect Android devices in order to prevent their removal and give attackers unrestricted access to the devices. But, it seems that the Shedun adware family has capabilities that go beyond the reach of other adware families. The Malware Doesn't Exploit Any Vulnerability It is

The China's Google-like Search Engine Baidu is offering a software development kit (SDK) that contains functionality that can be abused to give backdoor-like access to a user's device, potentially exposing around 100 Million Android users to malicious hackers . The SDK in question is Moplus , which may not be directly available to the public but has already made its way into more than 14,000 Android apps, of which around 4,000 are actually created by Baidu. Overall, more than 100 Million Android users, who have downloaded these apps on their smartphones, are in danger. Security researchers from Trend Micro have discovered a vulnerability in the Moplus SDK, called Wormhole , that allows attackers to launch an unsecured and unauthenticated HTTP server connection on affected devices, which works silently in the background, without the user's knowledge. Also Read:   More than 26 Android Phone Models Shipped with Pre-Installed Spyware This unsecured serv

It comes as no surprise that today's cyber threats are orders of magnitude more complex than those of the past. And the ever-evolving tactics that attackers use demand the adoption of better, more holistic and consolidated ways to meet this non-stop challenge. Security teams constantly look for ways to reduce risk while improving security posture, but many approaches offer piecemeal solutions – zeroing in on one particular element of the evolving threat landscape challenge – missing the forest for the trees.  In the last few years, Exposure Management has become known as a comprehensive way of reigning in the chaos, giving organizations a true fighting chance to reduce risk and improve posture. In this article I'll cover what Exposure Management is, how it stacks up against some alternative approaches and why building an Exposure Management program should be on  your 2024 to-do list. What is Exposure Management?  Exposure Management is the systematic identification, evaluation,

We know that Hackers hack for a variety of reasons: ...some hack to test their skills, …some hack to gain recognition, ...some hack to make money, ...some hack to support their Nation-State strategy, ...and, some hack alone, and some hack in Groups. And Chinese Hackers are the ones who are infamous for their dedication towards Hacking. Chinese hacking groups are better known for attacking and stealing information, organized cyber crimes, theft of intellectual property and state-sponsored cyber espionage attacks. But it seems that several Chinese hacker groups have now shifted their motive of hacking towards ' making money '. How much Money Hackers Actually Make? It is a known fact that hacking makes money, but how much? Answer: At least $4,500,000/year   from one malware campaign. How? We often observe mobile and desktop applications bundled with Ad-displaying programs, called Adware, to generate revenue. Just last week we reported abou

Google Android has been a primary concern of the attackers. Counting from a simple text message that could hack an Android phone remotely to the Stagefright bug making Billion users vulnerable. Now, the latest is the ' Kemoge Malware ' that has made its debut as an Adware on the Android mobile phones, allowing third-party app stores to fetch your device's information and take full control of it. Security researchers from FireEye Labs have discovered that Kemoge malicious adware family is spreading in 20 countries around the globe. Also, the origin of the Adware's attack is suspected from China. What is Kemoge? The name given to the malicious Adware family is because of its command and control (C2) domain: aps.kemoge.net. Kemoge is an Adware in the disguise of popular Apps; it has circulated in such numbers because it takes the name of popular apps and repackages them with the malicious code and make them available to the user. They even use

Bought a brand new Android Smartphone? Don't expect it to be a clean slate. A new report claims that some rogue retailers are selling brand-new Android smartphones loaded with pre-installed software. Security firm G Data has uncovered more than two dozens of Android smartphones from popular smartphone manufacturers — including Xiaomi , Huawei and Lenovo — that have pre-installed spyware in the firmware. G Data is a German security firm that disclosed last year the Star N9500 Smartphone's capability to spy on users, thereby comprising their personal data and conversations without any restrictions and users knowledge. Removal of Spyware Not Possible The pre-installed spyware, disguised in popular Android apps such as Facebook and Google Drive , can not be removed without unlocking the phone since it resides inside the phone's firmware. "Over the past year, we have seen a significant [growth] in devices that are equipped with firmware-level [m

It's not at all surprising that the Google Play Store is surrounded by a number of malicious applications that may gain users' attention to fall victim for one, but this time it might be even worse than you thought. Threat researchers from security firm ESET have discovered a malicious Facebook-Credentials-Stealing Trojan masquerading as an Android game that has been downloaded by more than a Million Android users. Malicious Android Apps downloaded 50,000-1,000,000 times The Android game, dubbed " Cowboy Adventure ," and another malicious game, dubbed " Jump Chess " – downloaded up to 50,000 times, have since been removed from Google Play Store. However, before taking them off from the app store, the creepy game apps may have compromised an unknown number of victims' Facebook credentials . Both the games were created by the same software developer, Tinker Studio and both were used to gather social media credentials from unsuspec

Google has changed the way it managed apps on the Google Play Store . After years of depending on the automated app check process, the company just made some changes to its Play Store policies  that will successfully weed out malicious and undesirable apps from Google Play store. Google has introduced an update for developers and users that's sure to make some parents happy and some developers sad. The new features are — Better App Review Process Age-Based Rating System BETTER APP REVIEW PROCESS The search engine giant announced on Tuesday that it has started employing humans to review apps before they go live on the Google Play Store , a move intended to " better protect the community " and " improve the app catalog ." The new approach would definitely affect app developers, as they'll have to wait for their apps to be approved by Google after they submit them to the Play Store. But, it would keep users safe from harmful malware or offensive content.

Security researchers have unearthed a new Android Trojan that tricks victims into believing they have switched their device off while it continues " spying " on the users' activities in the background. So, next time be very sure while you turn off your Android smartphones. The new Android malware threat, dubbed PowerOffHijack , has been spotted and analyzed by the researchers at the security firm AVG. PowerOffHijack because the nasty malware has a very unique feature - it hijacks the shutdown process of user's mobile phone. MALWARE WORKS AFTER SWITCHING OFF MOBILES When users presses the power button on their device, a fake dialog box is shown. The malware mimics the shutdown animation and the device appears to be off, but actually remains on, giving the malicious program freedom to move around on the device and steal data. "After pressing the power button, you will see the real shutdown animation, and the phone appears off. Although the screen is bl

With the rise in mobile market, last year we have seen sharp growth in malicious ' adware ' — the most prevalent mobile threat in the world. And now, security researchers have once again found Google Play Store offering malicious apps that are infecting millions of Android users with adware . It's not at all surprising that the Android operating system is surrounded by a number of unwanted intrusions that may gain users' attention to fall victim for one, but this issue might be even worse than we thought. WHAT IS ADWARE ? For those not familiar with adware, adware is a software that automatically displays or downloads advertising material like banners or pop-ups when a user is online. Doesn't sound dangerous, Right? But adware could result in a serious threat to users. Android Adware can pose a major threat to users' privacy, since some ad networks gather personal information like phone number, email address, and many more. Depending on where the ad netwo

" The Interview ", the controversial North Korean-baiting film which appeared to be the root cause of the cyber mishap occurred at Sony Pictures Entertainment that threatened terror attack at theaters showing the movie, now threatens to expose users of Android phones to a malware attack. Since its release, everyone is talking about "The Interview" — the Seth Rogen and James Franco-starring comedy centered around a TV host and his producer assassinating North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Because cybercriminals are known to take advantage of major events where there is a high level of public interest, The Interview became their target. In a joint investigation, Security researchers of McAfee and Technische Universität Darmstadt and the Center for Advanced Security Research Darmstadt (CASED) has discovered an Android app claiming to download 'The Interview' comedy on their smartphone devices actually infects users' devices with banking trojan in

Researchers have warned users of Android devices to avoid app downloads from particularly unauthorized sources, since a new and sophisticated piece of malware is targeting Android users through phishing emails . The malware, dubbed SandroRAT , is currently being used by cybercriminals to target Android users in Poland via a widely spread email spam campaign that delivers a new variant of an Android remote access tool (RAT). The emails masquerade itself as a bank alert that warns users of the malware infection in their mobile device and offers a fake mobile security solution in order to get rid of the malware infection. The mobile security solution poses as a Kaspersky Mobile Security , but in real, it is a version of SandroRAT, a remote access tool devised for Android devices, whose source code has been put on sale on underground Hack Forums since December last year. A mobile malware researcher at McAfee, Carlos Castillo, detailed the new variant of Android remot

Cybercriminals have rolled out a new malicious Android application that wraps different varieties of banking fraud trick into a single piece of advanced mobile malware . GOOGLE SERVICE FRAMEWORK - APPLICATION OR MALWARE? Security researchers at the security firm FireEye have came across a malicious Android application that binds together the latest and older hijacking techniques. The malicious Android app combines private data theft, banking credential theft and spoofing, and remote access into a single unit, where traditional malware has had only one such capability included in it. Researchers dubbed the malware as HijackRAT , a banking trojan that comes loaded with a malicious Android application which disguises itself as "Google Service Framework," first and the most advanced Android malware sample of its kind ever discovered, combining all the three malicious activities together. MALWARE FEATURES By giving the remote control of the infected device to hackers,

We are quite aware of the Android malware scanner Google's Bouncer that tests the apps by running them in a virtualized environment i.e. a simulated phone created in software which automatically scans the apps to watch its real behaviour on users' devices, before approving them to the Play Store market. To protect its users and their devices from harm, Google launched this apps scanning software tool, two year ago. Bouncer is a security feature for the Android Play store Market that is designed to protect the Android users to not to be a victim of any malicious Android malware app. But does the security tool go far enough? Despite having protective shield factor, we have seen Google play store market is surrounded by many malicious apps which easily by-passes the Bouncer scan test and targets Android users. Security Research from Columbia University have exploited weaknesses in Google's Bouncer service to sneak malicious apps on to the Android market. They publish

After hacking PCs, Cyber criminals have now begun targeting Smartphones with a special piece of malicious software that locks up the devices until the victims pay a ransom to get the keys to unlock the phone, called Ransomware .  Ransomware typically targets users' personal computers and has become a profitable way for cyber criminals to earn money. To deliver the Ransomware malwares to the mobile devices, cyber criminals have started creating malicious software programs that masquerade as antivirus apps or other play store apps, but instead of protecting your smart devices, they lock up your Smartphone until you pay a ransom to unlock it. RANSOMWARE - POLICE &  CRYPTOLOCKER As we reported earlier in news updates, security researchers disclosed various Police ransomware targeting users' personal computers. The ransomware software once installed, cyber criminals attempts to lock the victim's computer hard disk and files from a remote location. Usually

Google always bound to face trouble over the wide and open nature of its app checking policies on Google Play Store, and despite so many security measures, the search engine giant mostly fails to recognize the Android malware that are lurking around its Google Play store in vast numbers. Recently, Google had offered users refund and additional credit of $5 for the bogus antivirus app ' Virus Sheild ' that potentially defrauded more than 10,000 Android users who have downloaded the app from the Google play store. The step taken by Google is really appreciated, as the refunding cost Google around $269,000. Now, it has been found that a number of malicious Android apps on the Google Play store secretly turn users' android devices into small rigs contributing to a large-scale crypto currency mining operation. CRYPTO MINER IN ANDROID APP Security researchers from an anti-malware firm Lookout have identified various malware apps at Google Play Store, which they dub

iBanking is nothing but a mobile banking Trojan app which impersonates itself as a so-called ' Security App ' for Android devices and distributed through HTML injection attacks on banking sites, in order to deceive its victims. Recently, its source code has been leaked online through an underground forum that gave the opportunities to a larger number of cyber criminals to launch attacks using this kind of ready-made mobile malware. The malicious iBanking app installed on victims' phone has capabilities to spy on user's communications. The bot allows an attacker to spoof SMS, redirect calls to any pre-defined phone number, capture audio using the device's microphone and steal other confidential data like call history log and the phone book contacts. According to new report from ESET security researchers, now this iBanking Trojan ( Android/Spy.Agent.AF ) is targeting Facebook users by tricking them to download a malware application. The malware uses