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Facebook SDK Vulnerability Puts Millions of Smartphone Users' Accounts at Risk

Facebook SDK Vulnerability Puts Millions of Smartphone Users' Accounts at Risk

Jul 03, 2014
Security researchers from MetaIntell, the leader in intelligent led Mobile Risk Management (MRM), have discovered a major security vulnerability in the latest version of Facebook SDK that put millions of Facebook user's Authentication Tokens at risk. Facebook SDK for Android and iOS is the easiest way to integrate mobile apps with Facebook platform, which provides support for Login with Facebook authentication, reading and writing to Facebook APIs and many more. Facebook OAuth authentication or ' Login as Facebook ' mechanism is a personalized and secure way for users to sign into 3rd party apps without sharing their passwords. After the user approves the permissions as requested by the application, the Facebook SDK implements the OAuth 2.0 User-Agent flow to retrieve the secret user's access token required by the apps to call Facebook APIs to read, modify or write user's Facebook data on their behalf. ACCESSING UNENCRYPTED ACCESS TOKEN It is important that
Backdoor found in Samsung Galaxy Devices, allows Hackers to remotely access/modify Data

Backdoor found in Samsung Galaxy Devices, allows Hackers to remotely access/modify Data

Mar 13, 2014
Google's Android operating system may be open source, but the version of Android that runs on most phones, tablets, and other devices includes proprietary, closed-source components. Phone makers, including Samsung ships its Smartphones with a modified version of Android, with some pre-installed proprietary software and because of lack in independent code review of those closed-source apps, it is complex to authenticate its integrity and to identify the existence of backdoors . Paul Kocialkowski , the developers of the  Replicant OS  has uncovered a backdoor pre-installed on Samsung Galaxy devices and the Nexus S, that provides remote access to all the data in the device. Replicant OS is an open source operating system based on the Android mobile platform, which aims to replace all proprietary Android components with their free software counterparts. In a blog post , He explained that Samrtphones come with two separate processors, one for general-purpose application
Code Keepers: Mastering Non-Human Identity Management

Code Keepers: Mastering Non-Human Identity Management

Apr 12, 2024DevSecOps / Identity Management
Identities now transcend human boundaries. Within each line of code and every API call lies a non-human identity. These entities act as programmatic access keys, enabling authentication and facilitating interactions among systems and services, which are essential for every API call, database query, or storage account access. As we depend on multi-factor authentication and passwords to safeguard human identities, a pressing question arises: How do we guarantee the security and integrity of these non-human counterparts? How do we authenticate, authorize, and regulate access for entities devoid of life but crucial for the functioning of critical systems? Let's break it down. The challenge Imagine a cloud-native application as a bustling metropolis of tiny neighborhoods known as microservices, all neatly packed into containers. These microservices function akin to diligent worker bees, each diligently performing its designated task, be it processing data, verifying credentials, or
iOS vulnerability allows to disable 'Find My iPhone' without password

iOS vulnerability allows to disable 'Find My iPhone' without password

Feb 09, 2014
Smartphone manufacturers are adding ways for owners to track and manage their phones if they ever get lost or stolen. Find My iPhone is a service that comes with every iOS device that allows you to track your iPhone, whether it was lost or stolen. Normally, the iPhone requires a password if you want to deactivate " Find My iPhone ", but it isn't entirely perfect and thieves are now smart enough to disable ' Find My iPhone ' on devices running iOS 7.0.4 and lower version, without having to enter a password. The exploit was discovered and demonstrated security researcher ' Bradley Williams ' and performing a successful bypass means you won't be able to locate, make sound and wipe out. The vulnerability could put the devices at risk, and the exploitation method involves a few simple steps that involve making changes in the iCloud settings, even if they don't know the password. Steps to hack 'Find My iPhone': Navigate to iCloud in the settin
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WATCH: The SaaS Security Challenge in 90 Seconds

websiteAdaptive ShieldSaaS Security / Cyber Threat
Discover how you can overcome the SaaS security challenge by securing your entire SaaS stack with SSPM.
Android app that notifies you whenever GPS enabled apps access your location

Android app that notifies you whenever GPS enabled apps access your location

Feb 01, 2014
A team of Researchers at Rutgers University has developed an Android application which will notify you every time, whenever an app installed on your Smartphone accesses the GPS functionality. Smartphone is a multipurpose device, having features of both a mobile phone and a computer, allowing us to talk, text, access personal and official e-mail, browse the Internet, make purchases, manage bank accounts, and take pictures. Smartphone also help you to find the way to your destination using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. Unlike many of our computers, our Smartphones are always with us and many of us rarely turn them off, that means your Smartphone even can be abused to track your real time location on the map. There are many legitimate applications which need your location in order to function properly and to enhance the app features, for example- Zomato app can give the list of all restaurants near you, WeChat like social messaging apps allows you to get
Snapchat's new Security feature Hacked in 30 Minutes; CAPTCHA Cracking tool published

Snapchat's new Security feature Hacked in 30 Minutes; CAPTCHA Cracking tool published

Jan 25, 2014
Snapchat suffered a massive data breach back in December in which 4.6 million usernames and phone numbers were compromised. Earlier this month, the company launched an update to its iOS and Android apps, added a new security measure to ensure that new users aren't spambots or a robot. While signing up for the first time, it now displays nine images and then ask you to pick which images have a " ghost ". Within 24 hours of Snapchat releasing an improved security feature, a developer has written a computer program capable of cracking it. Another hacker, ' Steven Hickson ' took only 30 minutes to write a script that can crack this new security feature. In this CAPTCHA feature, basically have you choose from amongst a bunch of images, identifying the ones that have the Snapchat ghost to prove you are a person. " The problem with this is that the Snapchat ghost is very particular. You could even call it a template. For those of you familiar with template m
Government launched 'China Operating System' (COS) to break Andoird and iOS Monopoly

Government launched 'China Operating System' (COS) to break Andoird and iOS Monopoly

Jan 22, 2014
China has always tried to support its homegrown tech industry and even the security concerns over U.S. secret surveillance which gives Chinese Government another reasons to trust domestic vendors.Many other countries are also in favor to develop their own technology industries to reduce their dependence on U.S. The Government of China is not too fond of foreign mobile operating systems and therefore are trying to break the monopoly of Microsoft, Apple and Google in the country. This week at an event in  Beijing,  China has unveiled its own Linux-based mobile platform, dubbed China Operating System (COS) , developed as a joint effort between a company ' Shanghai Liantong ', ISCAS ( Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences ) and the Chinese Government. According to  COS website , it is designed for PCs, Smartphones, tablets, TVs, set-top boxes and other smart appliances. It runs Java applications, supports HTML5 and can run over 100,000 apps. At
NSA admits to collect 200 Million text messages per day under Project DISHFIRE

NSA admits to collect 200 Million text messages per day under Project DISHFIRE

Jan 17, 2014
After the exposure of various surveillance programs, including PRISM, XKeyscore, MUSCULAR, DROPOUTJEEP in recent revelation, NSA has come up as the only ' Government that Actually Listen '. Another day and here comes another revelation - According to the The Guardian , National Security Agency (NSA) has collected almost 200 million text messages per day from across the globe and is using them to extract data including location, contact networks and even credit card details. The two names that come in the limelight are,  DISHFIRE  that collects " pretty much everything it can "and PREFER  that conducted automated analysis of the untargeted communications. The program was designed to collect the text messages automatically from various service providers, to pull the details of financial transactions, roaming charges, delayed flights, missed calls and scheduled alerts, address book contacts, credit cards, bank accounts and visited locations. Now If I am not wrong the word ' Untarge
Judge Ruled - NSA Telephone Metadata Collection violates the Fourth Amendment

Judge Ruled - NSA Telephone Metadata Collection violates the Fourth Amendment

Dec 17, 2013
Big and Good news for all of us. A federal court judge ' Richard J. Leon ' said that he believes, US National Security Agency's (NSA) controversial practice of routinely collecting the telephone records of millions of Americans likely violates the 4th Amendment and is unconstitutional, even though the FISA court approved it. Earlier in 2013, a conservative Legal Activist Larry Klayman filed a lawsuit against the US government, alleging that NSA's massive telephone surveillance program violates the " reasonable expectation of privacy, free speech and association, right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures and due process rights. " NYTimes reported that last Monday in the decision, Judge has ordered [  Case:  Klayman v. Obama (13-851)  PDF File  ] the NSA to stop collecting U.S. Citizen's Telephone records, and to destroy the files it already holds. This was the first major court ruling about NSA' so-called metadata counter terrorism program after
Mouabad Android Malware calling to Premium numbers; Generating revenue for its Master

Mouabad Android Malware calling to Premium numbers; Generating revenue for its Master

Dec 11, 2013
Android platform is a primary target for malware attacks from few years and during 2013, more than 79% of mobile operating malware threats are taking place on Android OS. I have been working on Android Malware architectures since last two years and created 100's of sample of most sophisticated malware for demo purpose. Till now we have seen the majority of Android malware apps that earn money for their creators by sending SMS messages to premium rate numbers from infected devices. Security researchers at Lookout identified an interesting monetized Android Malware labeled as ' Mouabad ', that allow a remote attacker to make phone calls to premium-rate numbers without user interaction from C&C servers by sending commands to the malware. The technique is not new, but infection from such app notified first time in the wild. The variant dubbed MouaBad . p. , is particularly sneaky and to avoid detection it waits to make its calls until a period of time after the scree
Another Master Key vulnerability discovered in Android 4.3

Another Master Key vulnerability discovered in Android 4.3

Nov 02, 2013
Earlier this year, in the month of July it was first discovered that 99% of Android devices are vulnerable to a flaw called " Android Master Key vulnerability " that allow hackers to modify any legitimate and digitally signed application in order to transform it into a Trojan program that can be used to steal data or take control of the device.  The vulnerability was also responsibly disclosed to Google back in February by Bluebox and but the company did not fix the issue even with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Later, Google has also modified its Play Store's app entry process so that apps that have been modified using such exploit are blocked and can no longer be distributed via Play. Then after a few days, in the last week of July this year,  Android Security Squad , the China -based group also uncovered a second Android master key vulnerability similar to the first one. Security researcher  Jay Freeman has  discovered  yet another Master Key vulnerability in A
New Android Banking Trojan targeting Korean users

New Android Banking Trojan targeting Korean users

Oct 24, 2013
A very profitable line for mobile malware developers is Android Banking Trojans, which infect phones and steal passwords and other data when victims log onto their online bank accounts. One recent trend is Android malware that attacks users in specific countries, such as European Countries, Brazil and India.  The Antivirus software maker Malwarebytes noticed that a new threat distributed via file sharing sites and alternative markets in the last few months, targets Korean users. Dubbed as ' Android/Trojan . Bank . Wroba ', malware disguises itself as the Google Play Store app and run as a service in the background to monitor events.  " This enables it to capture incoming SMS, monitor installed apps and communicate with a remote server. " According to the researcher, after installation - malware lookup for existence of targeted Banking applications on the device, remove them and download a malicious version to replace. " The malicious v
Simple, but Critical vulnerability in Verizon Portal revealed users' SMS History

Simple, but Critical vulnerability in Verizon Portal revealed users' SMS History

Oct 21, 2013
A Security researcher discovered a critical privacy vulnerability on Verizon Wireless's Web-based customer portal that allows anyone to download user's SMS History and Numbers of other users he communicated with. Back in August, researcher ' Cody Collier ' found that a simple URL exploit could allow any subscriber to extract data using ' Download to SpreadSheet' function. To exploit, an attacker only needs to modify the subscriber's phone number in the URL and this would give an attacker access to the SMS history to the targeted account. https://wbillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/accountholder/unbilledusage/UnbilledMessaging.action?d-455677-e=2&1548506v4671=1&mtn= 999999999 Where variable ' mtn ' within the URL defines the mobile number and an attacker just need to modify this. " Message details consist of: Date, Time, To, From, and Direction an SMS or MMS took place. With no user interaction, all that was required was a subscriber's phone nu
First ever Malware for Firefox Mobile OS developed by Researcher

First ever Malware for Firefox Mobile OS developed by Researcher

Oct 18, 2013
Firefox OS is a mobile operating system based on Linux and Mozilla 's Gecko technology, whose environment is dedicated to apps created with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. After almost two years of development, a few months back Mozilla officially launched their Firefox OS devices in stores and now the first Malware for the brand new platform is available. Shantanu Gawde , 17-years-old, an Independent Security Researcher is going to demonstrate the very first known malware for Firefox OS at the upcoming Information Security Summit - The Ground Zero (G0S) 2013, to be held on November 7th - 10th, 2013 at The Ashok, New Delhi. Firefox OS is different - Every app in Firefox OS including the Camera and the Dialer is a web app, i.e. a website in the form of an app. Simple! Mozilla has developed Web APIs so that HTML5 apps can communicate with the device's hardware and Shantanu has used the same APIs intentionally to exploit the device for malicious purpose. Basically,
Vulnerability in WhatsApp allows decrypting user messages

Vulnerability in WhatsApp allows decrypting user messages

Oct 11, 2013
A serious vulnerability in WhatsApp allows anyone who is able to eavesdrop on WhatsApp connection to decrypt users' messages. Whatsapp , the mobile application for instant messaging platform has become one of the main communication tools of the present day and its popularity makes it attractive for security researchers and hackers . This time it is debated in the protection of the messages exchanged through the application, thanks to a vulnerability in the crypto implementation they can be intercepted by an attacker. Thijs Alkemade is a computer science student at Utrecht University in The Netherlands who works on the open source Adium instant messaging project, during its research activity he disclosed a serious issue in the encryption used to secure WhatsApp messages. In the post titled " Piercing Through WhatsApp's Encryption " Alkemade remarked that Whatsapp has been plagued by numerous security issues recently, easily stolen passwords, unencr
iPhone iOS 7.0.2 Sim Lock Screen Bypass vulnerability

iPhone iOS 7.0.2 Sim Lock Screen Bypass vulnerability

Oct 08, 2013
If you're unlucky enough to lose your Smartphone or have it stolen, anyone who finds the device will also be able to access any content stored on the device, whether its contacts, music or documents. But by implementing a SIM card PIN lock, everytime the device is powered down and subsequently switch back on again, the PIN will need to enter before the phone can be used. Security Researcher - Benjamin Kunz Mejri from Vulnerability Laboratory claimed that he found a new vulnerability in the iOS v7.0.1 & v7.0.2, that allows a hacker to bypass the Sim lock Mode. In a Proof of Concept video, he demonstrates that how an attacker can bypass the restricted section of the iPhone, when Sim Lock is enabled on a Stolen iPhone Device. Flaw can be exploited without user interaction and successful exploitation results in the bypass of the SIM lock mode to the regular lock mode. Follow Steps to bypass SIM Lock on stolen Devices: Turn on your iPhone and ensur
iPhone Fingerprint scanner hack allows attacker to hijack Apple ID using Flight Mode

iPhone Fingerprint scanner hack allows attacker to hijack Apple ID using Flight Mode

Oct 06, 2013
A German security firm SRL claims a vulnerability in Touch ID Fingerprint Scanner and iCloud allows a hacker to access a locked device and potentially gain control over an owner's Apple ID. SRL points out that Airplane mode can be enabled on a stolen phone from the lockscreen , which turns off wireless connectivity and so defeats the remote wipe facility . This can be accessed without requiring a passcode, could be a major vulnerability when it comes to physically stolen devices. In a video demonstration, they point out that while Apple lets users locate and remotely wipe a device using the Find My iPhone app. Since Find My iPhone can only perform a wipe if a device is connected to the Internet, but because airplane mode will disable Internet Connectivity, that may give a thief enough time to get fingerprints off of the device and eventually log in. An attacker can create a fake fingerprint on a laminated sheet and later attached to one of their fingers, as already explained
Anonymous Search engine 'DuckDuckGo' Android app offers Tor integration

Anonymous Search engine 'DuckDuckGo' Android app offers Tor integration

Oct 03, 2013
The world of mobile search is about to get a bit more anonymous. Thanks to the fears over government surveillance and corporate tracking, Anonymous Search Engine DuckDuckGo continues to break its own search records. DuckDuckGo Search & Stories - Android app deliver the same functionality as traditional services such as Google but with the added promise that your IP address and identity will not be recorded.  In June, Anonymous search engine  DuckDuckGo  had launched its app for  iOS  and Android and during recent update, DuckDuckGo's application for Android also integrated the Tor support. " Privacy is perhaps more important on mobile than on the web, and we haven't had many private alternatives ," DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg said. To enable Tor with DuckDuckGo android app, user need to Check " Enable Tor " from setting. It will prompt the user to install about application to anonymize the Mobile data communication. As a search
Another iPhone lockscreen bypass vulnerability found in iOS 7.02

Another iPhone lockscreen bypass vulnerability found in iOS 7.02

Sep 30, 2013
Here we go again! Earlier this week, Apple released iOS 7.0.2 just to fix some Lockscreen bugs in iOS 7 and but a researcher has found a new Lockscreen bug in new iOS 7.0.2. This new Lockscreen bug is found by Dany Lisiansky , and he uploaded a proof of concept video on YouTube with the complete step by step guide. Unlike the previous bugs it will not expose your Email, Photos, Facebook and Twitter but allows attackers to access your phone call history, voicemails and entire list of contacts. A step by step guide released by iDownloadblog : Make a phone call (with Siri / Voice Control) Click the FaceTime button When the FaceTime App appears, click the Sleep button Unlock the iPhone Answer and End the FaceTime call at the other end Wait a few seconds Done. You are now in the phone app Video demonstration  It would be easy for someone who knows you or your love partner or your business partner to obtain your phone and call themselves from it
Exclusive : New Touch ID hack allows hacker to unlock an iPhone by multiple fingerprints

Exclusive : New Touch ID hack allows hacker to unlock an iPhone by multiple fingerprints

Sep 29, 2013
The Iranian group defeated the very basic phenomenon of an iPhone Fingerprinting scanner, which allows them to unlock an iPhone device with multiple Fingerprints. Apple's iPhone 5s , was launched just available in stores two weeks before with a new feature of biometrics-based security system called " Touch ID ", that involves analyzing a user's fingerprint and using that to unlock the phone. Apple launched the technology that it promises will better protect devices from criminals and snoopers seeking access. With this you can purchase things from the iTunes App Store. Basically, you can now use it in place of your password. " Fingerprint is one of the best passcodes in the world. It's always with you, and no two are exactly alike, " according to the Apple's website. Last week Germany Hackers showed that how they were able to deceive Apple's latest security feature into believing they're someone they're not, using a well-honed technique for
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