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Category — Android
Android's New Feature Blocks Fraudsters from Sideloading Apps During Calls

Android's New Feature Blocks Fraudsters from Sideloading Apps During Calls

Feb 15, 2025 Mobile Security / Technology
Google is working on a new security feature for Android that blocks device owners from changing sensitive settings when a phone call is in progress. Specifically, the in-call anti-scammer protections include preventing users from turning on settings to install apps from unknown sources and granting accessibility access. The development was first reported by Android Authority. Users who attempt to do so during phone calls are served the message: "Scammers often request this type of action during phone call conversations, so it's blocked to protect you. If you are being guided to take this action by someone you don't know, it might be a scam." Furthermore, it blocks users from giving an app access to accessibility services over the course of a phone call. The feature is currently live in Android 16 Beta 2, which was released earlier this week. With this latest addition, the idea is to introduce more friction to a tactic that has been commonly abused by maliciou...
Google Confirms Android SafetyCore Enables AI-Powered On-Device Content Classification

Google Confirms Android SafetyCore Enables AI-Powered On-Device Content Classification

Feb 11, 2025 Mobile Security / Machine Learning
Google has stepped in to clarify that a newly introduced Android System SafetyCore app does not perform any client-side scanning of content. "Android provides many on-device protections that safeguard users against threats like malware, messaging spam and abuse protections, and phone scam protections, while preserving user privacy and keeping users in control of their data," a spokesperson for the company told The Hacker News when reached for comment. "SafetyCore is a new Google system service for Android 9+ devices that provides the on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content. Users are in control over SafetyCore and SafetyCore only classifies specific content when an app requests it through an optionally enabled feature." SafetyCore (package name "com.google.android.safetycore") was first introduced by Google in October 2024, as part of a set of security measures designed to...
Protecting Your Software Supply Chain: Assessing the Risks Before Deployment

Protecting Your Software Supply Chain: Assessing the Risks Before Deployment

Feb 11, 2025Software Security / Threat Intelligence
Imagine you're considering a new car for your family. Before making a purchase, you evaluate its safety ratings, fuel efficiency, and reliability. You might even take it for a test drive to ensure it meets your needs. The same approach should be applied to software and hardware products before integrating them into an organization's environment. Just as you wouldn't buy a car without knowing its safety features, you shouldn't deploy software without understanding the risks it introduces. The Rising Threat of Supply Chain Attacks Cybercriminals have recognized that instead of attacking an organization head-on, they can infiltrate through the software supply chain—like slipping counterfeit parts into an assembly line. According to the 2024 Sonatype State of the Software Supply Chain report , attackers are infiltrating open-source ecosystems at an alarming rate, with over 512,847 malicious packages detected last year alone—a 156% increase from the previous year. Traditional sec...
SparkCat Malware Uses OCR to Extract Crypto Wallet Recovery Phrases from Images

SparkCat Malware Uses OCR to Extract Crypto Wallet Recovery Phrases from Images

Feb 06, 2025 Financial Fraud / Cryptocurrency
A new malware campaign dubbed SparkCat has leveraged a suit of bogus apps on both Apple's and Google's respective app stores to steal victims' mnemonic phrases associated with cryptocurrency wallets.  The attacks leverage an optical character recognition (OCR) model to exfiltrate select images containing wallet recovery phrases from photo libraries to a command-and-control (C2) server, Kaspersky researchers Dmitry Kalinin and Sergey Puzan said in a technical report. The moniker is a reference to an embedded software development kit (SDK) that employs a Java component called Spark that masquerades as an analytics module. It's currently not known whether the infection was a result of a supply chain attack or if it was intentionally introduced by the developers. While this is not the first time Android malware with OCR capabilities has been detected in the wild, it's one of the first instances where such a stealer has been found in Apple's App Store. The inf...
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Google Bans 158,000 Malicious Android App Developer Accounts in 2024

Google Bans 158,000 Malicious Android App Developer Accounts in 2024

Jan 31, 2025 Mobile Security / Cybercrime
Google said it blocked over 2.36 million policy-violating Android apps from being published to the Google Play app marketplace in 2024 and banned more than 158,000 bad developer accounts that attempted to publish such harmful apps. The tech giant also noted it prevented 1.3 million apps from getting excessive or unnecessary access to sensitive user data during the time period by working with third-party app developers. Furthermore, Google Play Protect, a security feature that's enabled by default on Android devices to flag novel threats, identified 13 million new malicious apps from outside of the official app store. "As a result of partnering closely with developers, over 91% of app installs on the Google Play Store now use the latest protections of Android 13 or newer," Bethel Otuteye and Khawaja Shams from the Android Security and Privacy Team, and Ron Aquino from Google Play Trust and Safety said . In comparison, the company blocked 1.43 million and 2.28 millio...
Android's New Identity Check Feature Locks Device Settings Outside Trusted Locations

Android's New Identity Check Feature Locks Device Settings Outside Trusted Locations

Jan 24, 2025 Biometric / Mobile Security
Google has launched a new feature called Identity Check for supported Android devices that locks sensitive settings behind biometric authentication when outside of trusted locations. "When you turn on Identity Check, your device will require explicit biometric authentication to access certain sensitive resources when you're outside of trusted locations," Google said in a post announcing the move. In doing so, biometric authentication will be required for the following actions - Access saved passwords and passkeys with Google Password Manager Autofill passwords in apps from Google Password Manager, except in Chrome Change screen lock, like PIN, pattern, and password Change biometrics, like Fingerprint or Face Unlock Run a factory reset Turn off Find My Device Turn off any theft protection features View trusted places Turn off Identity Check Set up a new device with your current device Add or remove a Google Account Access Developer options Identity C...
DoNot Team Linked to New Tanzeem Android Malware Targeting Intelligence Collection

DoNot Team Linked to New Tanzeem Android Malware Targeting Intelligence Collection

Jan 20, 2025 Android / Malware
The Threat actor known as DoNot Team has been linked to a new Android malware as part of highly targeted cyber attacks. The artifacts in question, named Tanzeem (meaning "organization" in Urdu) and Tanzeem Update, were spotted in October and December 2024 by cybersecurity company Cyfirma. The apps in question have been found to incorporate identical functions, barring minor modifications to the user interface. "Although the app is supposed to function as a chat application, it does not work once installed, shutting down after the necessary permissions are granted," Cyfirma noted in a Friday analysis. "The app's name suggests that it is designed to target specific individuals or groups both inside and outside the country." DoNot Team, also tracked as APT-C-35, Origami Elephant, SECTOR02, and Viceroy Tiger, is a hacking group believed to be of Indian origin, with historical attacks leveraging spear-phishing emails and Android malware families to...
Google Project Zero Researcher Uncovers Zero-Click Exploit Targeting Samsung Devices

Google Project Zero Researcher Uncovers Zero-Click Exploit Targeting Samsung Devices

Jan 10, 2025 Cybersecurity / Android
Cybersecurity researchers have detailed a now-patched security flaw impacting Monkey's Audio (APE) decoder on Samsung smartphones that could lead to code execution. The high-severity vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-49415 (CVSS score: 8.1), affects Samsung devices running Android versions 12, 13, and 14. "Out-of-bounds write in libsaped.so prior to SMR Dec-2024 Release 1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code," Samsung said in an advisory for the flaw released in December 2024 as part of its monthly security updates. "The patch adds proper input validation." Google Project Zero researcher Natalie Silvanovich, who discovered and reported the shortcoming, described it as requiring no user interaction to trigger (i.e., zero-click) and a "fun new attack surface" under specific conditions. Particularly, this works if Google Messages is configured for rich communication services ( RCS ), the default configuration on Galaxy S23 and S24 ph...
FireScam Android Malware Poses as Telegram Premium to Steal Data and Control Devices

FireScam Android Malware Poses as Telegram Premium to Steal Data and Control Devices

Jan 06, 2025 Malware / Mobile Security
An Android information stealing malware named FireScam has been found masquerading as a premium version of the Telegram messaging app to steal data and maintain persistent remote control over compromised devices. "Disguised as a fake 'Telegram Premium' app, it is distributed through a GitHub.io-hosted phishing site that impersonates RuStore – a popular app store in the Russian Federation," Cyfirma said , describing it as a "sophisticated and multifaceted threat." "The malware employs a multi-stage infection process, starting with a dropper APK, and performs extensive surveillance activities once installed." The phishing site in question, rustore-apk.github[.]io, mimics RuStore, an app store launched by Russian tech giant VK in the country, and is designed to deliver a dropper APK file ("GetAppsRu.apk"). Once installed, the dropper acts as a delivery vehicle for the main payload, which is responsible for exfiltrating sensitive data,...
Germany Disrupts BADBOX Malware on 30,000 Devices Using Sinkhole Action

Germany Disrupts BADBOX Malware on 30,000 Devices Using Sinkhole Action

Dec 14, 2024 Botnet / Ad Fraud
Germany's Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) has announced that it has disrupted a malware operation called BADBOX that came preloaded on at least 30,000 internet-connected devices sold across the country. In a statement published earlier this week, authorities said they severed the communications between the devices and their command-and-control (C2) servers by sinkholing the domains in question. Impacted devices include digital picture frames, media players, and streamers, and likely phones and tablets. "What all of these devices have in common is that they have outdated Android versions and were delivered with pre-installed malware," the BSI said in a press release. BADBOX was first documented by HUMAN's Satori Threat Intelligence and Research team in October 2023, describing it as a "complex threat actor scheme" that involves deploying the Triada Android malware on low-cost, off-brand Android devices by exploiting weak supply chain links...
Gamaredon Deploys Android Spyware "BoneSpy" and "PlainGnome" in Former Soviet States

Gamaredon Deploys Android Spyware "BoneSpy" and "PlainGnome" in Former Soviet States

Dec 12, 2024 Mobile Security / Cyber Espionage
The Russia-linked state-sponsored threat actor tracked as Gamaredon has been attributed to two new Android spyware tools called BoneSpy and PlainGnome , marking the first time the adversary has been discovered using mobile-only malware families in its attack campaigns. "BoneSpy and PlainGnome target former Soviet states and focus on Russian-speaking victims," Lookout said in an analysis. "Both BoneSpy and PlainGnome collect data such as SMS messages, call logs, phone call audio, photos from device cameras, device location, and contact lists." Gamaredon , also called Aqua Blizzard, Armageddon, BlueAlpha, Hive0051, Iron Tilden, Primitive Bear, Shuckworm, Trident Ursa, UAC-0010, UNC530, and Winterflounder, is a hacking group affiliated with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Last week, Recorded Future's Insikt Group revealed the threat actor's use of Cloudflare Tunnels as a tactic to conceal its staging infrastructure hosting malicious payload...
Fake Recruiters Distribute Banking Trojan via Malicious Apps in Phishing Scam

Fake Recruiters Distribute Banking Trojan via Malicious Apps in Phishing Scam

Dec 10, 2024 Mobile Security / Cryptocurrency
Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a sophisticated mobile phishing (aka mishing ) campaign that's designed to distribute an updated version of the Antidot banking trojan. "The attackers presented themselves as recruiters, luring unsuspecting victims with job offers," Zimperium zLabs Vishnu Pratapagiri researcher said in a new report. "As part of their fraudulent hiring process, the phishing campaign tricks victims into downloading a malicious application that acts as a dropper, eventually installing the updated variant of Antidot Banker in the victim's device." The new version of the Android malware has been codenamed AppLite Banker by the mobile security company, highlighting its abilities to siphon unlock PIN (or pattern or password) and remotely take control of infected devices, a feature recently also observed in TrickMo . The attacks employ a variety of social engineering strategies, often luring targets with the prospect of a job opp...
FSB Uses Trojan App to Monitor Russian Programmer Accused of Supporting Ukraine

FSB Uses Trojan App to Monitor Russian Programmer Accused of Supporting Ukraine

Dec 06, 2024 Spyware / Mobile Security
A Russian programmer accused of donating money to Ukraine had his Android device secretly implanted with spyware by the Federal Security Service (FSB) after he was detained earlier this year. The findings come as part of a collaborative investigation by First Department and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab . "The spyware placed on his device allows the operator to track a target device's location, record phone calls, keystrokes, and read messages from encrypted messaging apps, among other capabilities," according to the report. In May 2024, Kirill Parubets was released from custody after a 15-day period in administrative detention by Russian authorities, during which time his phone, an Oukitel WP7 phone running Android 10, was confiscated from him. During this period, not only was he beaten to compel him into revealing his device password, he was also subjected to an "intense effort" to recruit him as an informant for the FSB, or else risk fac...
This $3,000 Android Trojan Targeting Banks and Cryptocurrency Exchanges

This $3,000 Android Trojan Targeting Banks and Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Dec 05, 2024 Cryptocurrency / Mobile Security
As many as 77 banking institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, and national organizations have become the target of a newly discovered Android remote access trojan (RAT) called DroidBot . "DroidBot is a modern RAT that combines hidden VNC and overlay attack techniques with spyware-like capabilities, such as keylogging and user interface monitoring," Cleafy researchers Simone Mattia, Alessandro Strino, and Federico Valentini said . "Moreover, it leverages dual-channel communication, transmitting outbound data through MQTT and receiving inbound commands via HTTPS, providing enhanced operation flexibility and resilience." The Italian fraud prevention company said it discovered the malware in late October 2024, although there is evidence to suggest that it has been active since at least June, operating under a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model for a monthly fee of $3,000. No less than 17 affiliate groups have been identified as paying for access to the offering. ...
Hackers Target Uyghurs and Tibetans with MOONSHINE Exploit and DarkNimbus Backdoor

Hackers Target Uyghurs and Tibetans with MOONSHINE Exploit and DarkNimbus Backdoor

Dec 05, 2024 Mobile Security / Windows Security
A previously undocumented threat activity cluster dubbed Earth Minotaur is leveraging the MOONSHINE exploit kit and an unreported Android-cum-Windows backdoor called DarkNimbus to facilitate long-term surveillance operations targeting Tibetans and Uyghurs. "Earth Minotaur uses MOONSHINE to deliver the DarkNimbus backdoor to Android and Windows devices, targeting WeChat, and possibly making it a cross-platform threat," Trend Micro researchers Joseph C Chen and Daniel Lunghi said in an analysis published today. "MOONSHINE exploits multiple known vulnerabilities in Chromium-based browsers and applications, requiring users to update software regularly to prevent attacks." Countries affected by Earth Minotaur's attacks span Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Nepal, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and the U.S. MOONSHINE first came to light in September 2019 as part of cyber attacks targeting t...
Google's New Restore Credentials Tool Simplifies App Login After Android Migration

Google's New Restore Credentials Tool Simplifies App Login After Android Migration

Nov 25, 2024 Mobile Security / Privacy
Google has introduced a new feature called Restore Credentials to help users restore their account access to third-party apps securely after migrating to a new Android device. Part of Android's Credential Manager API , the feature aims to reduce the hassle of re-entering the login credentials for every app during the handset replacement. "With Restore Credentials, apps can seamlessly onboard users to their accounts on a new device after they restore their apps and data from their previous device," Google's Neelansh Sahai said . The tech giant said the process occurs automatically in the background when a user restores apps and data from a previous device, enabling apps to sign users back into the respective accounts without requiring any additional interaction. This is accomplished by means of what's called a restore key, which, in reality, is a public key that's compatible with FIDO2 standards such as passkeys. Thus when a user signs in to an app that...
Gmail's New Shielded Email Feature Lets Users Create Aliases for Email Privacy

Gmail's New Shielded Email Feature Lets Users Create Aliases for Email Privacy

Nov 18, 2024 Privacy / Email Security
Google appears to be readying a new feature called Shielded Email that allows users to create email aliases when signing up for online services and better combat spam. The feature was first reported by Android Authority last week following a teardown of the latest version of Google Play Services for Android. The idea is to create unique, single-use email addresses that forward the messages to the associated primary account, thereby preventing the need for providing the real email address when filling out forms or registering for new services online. The idea of email aliases for improved privacy is not new. Back in 2021, Apple introduced a similar feature called Hide My Email that allows iCloud+ subscribers to generate random burner email addresses. It can also be used to set up new ones in Safari, Mail, and Apple Pay wherever email addresses are required. Other providers like Bitwarden and DuckDuckGo have since also released an analogous feature. It's worth noting that...
CISA Alerts to Active Exploitation of Critical Palo Alto Networks Vulnerability

CISA Alerts to Active Exploitation of Critical Palo Alto Networks Vulnerability

Nov 08, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added a now-patched critical security flaw impacting Palo Alto Networks Expedition to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-5910 (CVSS score: 9.3), concerns a case of missing authentication in the Expedition migration tool that could lead to an admin account takeover. "Palo Alto Expedition contains a missing authentication vulnerability that allows an attacker with network access to takeover an Expedition admin account and potentially access configuration secrets, credentials, and other data," CISA said in an alert. The shortcoming impacts all versions of Expedition prior to version 1.2.92, which was released in July 2024 to plug the problem. There are currently no reports on how the vulnerability is being weaponized in real-world attacks, but Palo Alto Networks has since revised its original adviso...
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