‘AVPass’ Sneaks Malware Past Android Antivirus Apps

Researchers at Black Hat USA will release a toolset that studies and then cheats specific Android AV apps. A team of researchers from Georgia Tech built an Android hacking tool that snuck past nearly all of 58 Android AV antivirus programs in tests conducted via VirusTotal. Their AVPass toolkit includes a query function that vets…

Google’s whack-a-mole with Android adware continues

Why can’t Google put a stop to adware on their official Android app marketplace? The analysis by Trend Micro researchers of a Trojan Android ad library dubbed Xavier tells the story. The Xavier ad library is third stage of evolution of the AdDown family, which was initially able to install apps behind the user’s back,…

Android Vulnerabilities: Attacking Nexus 6 and 6P Custom Boot Modes

In recent months, the X-Force Application Security Research Team has discovered several previously undisclosed Android vulnerabilities. The November 2016 and January 2017 Android Security Bulletins included patches to one high-severity vulnerability, CVE-2016-8467, in Nexus 6 and 6P. Our new paper, “Attacking Nexus 6 & 6P Custom Bootmodes,” discusses this vulnerability as well as CVE-2016-6678.