TikTok for Android Bug Allows Single-Click Account Hijack
A high-severity flaw in the Android version of the TikTok app — which has been installed more than 1.5 billion times so far via the Google Play Store — could allow threat actors to hijack a user’s account with a single click. Microsoft discovered the high-severity vulnerability in the handling of one of TikTok for…
‘Octo’ Android Trojan Allows Cybercrooks to Conduct On-Device Fraud
Dubbed Octo, the botnet was first mentioned on dark web forums in January 2022, but an analysis of its code revealed a close connection with ExobotCompact, which is believed to be the successor of the Exobot Android trojan, which in turn was based on the source code of the Marcher trojan. Exobot was used in…
TianySpy Malware Uses Smishing Disguised as Message From Telco
It has been some time since SMS or text messaging has become a means to spread mobile malware. In September 2021, Trend Micro confirmed a new mobile malware infection chain targeting both Android and iPhone devices. The chain is triggered by a smishing message that appears to be sent from a telecommunications company. It is…
Facebook Sues Ukrainian for Scraping, Selling Data of 178 Million Users
The defendant is Alexander Alexandrovich Solonchenko, whom Facebook says used the online monikers “Solomame” and “barak_obama” on the RaidForums hacker forum, where he allegedly sold illegally obtained information. According to the social media giant, Solonchenko, who worked as a freelance computer programmer, abused its Contact Importer tool to scrape the user IDs and phone numbers…
Installing unknown apps in Android: a safety guide
For Android users, installing applications from Google Play, and Google Play only, is the wise choice. With its strong safety rules, official app monitoring, plentiful user reviews, and security researcher scrutiny, Android’s official store tends to be a safe place for downloading apps. Even when malware does make it to Google Play, it is quickly…
Google Patches High-Risk Android Security Flaws
The latest Android update provides documentation on 33 security bugs, some serious enough to cause privilege escalation or information disclosure compromises. The most important of these is a bug in the Media framework that could lead to elevation of privilege on Android 8.1 and 9 devices, or information disclosure, on Android 10 and 11. The…
Judge: Ex-CIA Worker Can Represent Himself in Espionage Case
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty said in a written order that Joshua Schulte had shown that he was sure he wanted to act as his own lawyer. Schulte, 32, faces an October trial on charges that he leaked CIA secrets to WikiLeaks, which published materials in 2017 that revealed how the CIA hacked Apple…
FluBot Android Malware Expected to Start Targeting U.S.
Initially observed in Spain, FluBot has since expanded operations to reach Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and the UK as well, with tens of thousands of malicious SMS messages that leverage FedEx, DHL, and Correos lures being sent hourly. The malware is believed to have made over 7,000 victims in the UK alone, where the campaign…
Google Broke Australian Law Over Location Data Collection: Court
The US company faces potential fines of “many millions” of dollars over the case, which was brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the regulators’ chief Rod Sims said. The federal court found that in 2017 and 2018 Google misled some users of phones and tablets featuring its Android operating system by collecting…
Google Patches Critical Code Execution Vulnerability in Android
Tracked as CVE-2021-0430 and affecting Android 10 and 11, the code execution vulnerability is deemed critical severity. The bug was patched as part of the 2021-04-01 security patch level. “The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability in the System component that could enable a remote attacker using a specially crafted file…
