mobile
Serbian police used Cellebrite zero-day hack to unlock Android phones
Serbian authorities have reportedly used an Android zero-day exploit chain developed by Cellebrite to unlock the device of a student activist in the country and attempt to install spyware. Cellebrite is an Israeli digital forensics company that develops tools used by law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and private companies to extract data from smartphones and other digital […]
SpyLend Android malware downloaded 100,000 times from Google Play
An Android malware app called SpyLend has been downloaded over 100,000 times from Google Play, where it masqueraded as a financial tool but became a predatory loan app for those in India. The app falls under a group of malicious Android applications called “SpyLoan,” which pretend to be legitimate financial tools or loan services but […]
Crypto-stealing apps found in Apple App Store for the first time
Android and iOS apps on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store contain a malicious software development kit (SDK) designed to steal cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases using optical character recognition (OCR) stealers. The campaign is called “SparkCat” after the name (“Spark”) of one of the malicious SDK components in the infected apps, with developers likely […]
Google blocked 2.36 million risky Android apps from Play Store in 2024
Google blocked 2.3 million Android app submissions to the Play Store in 2024 due to violations of its policies that made them potentially risky for users. In addition, 158,000 developer accounts were banned for attempting to publish harmful apps like malware and spyware on Android’s official app store. In comparison, Google blocked 2,280,000 risky apps in 2023 and 1,500,000 […]
Signal will let you sync old messages when linking new devices
Signal is finally adding a new feature that allows users to synchronize their old message history from their primary iOS or Android devices to newly linked devices like desktops and iPads. The transfer process is fully end-to-end encrypted, ensuring privacy and data security. It will employ a QR code verification step to ensure the action […]
New Android Identity Check locks settings outside trusted locations
Google has announced a new Android “Identity Check” security feature that lock sensitive settings behind biometric authentication when outside a trusted location. The new feature is part of Anroid’s theft protection suite, which includes features like last year’s Theft Detection Lock, which is now rolling out to more Android device models. The new Identity Check feature is […]
Allstate car insurer sued for tracking drivers without permission
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Allstate and its data subsidiary Arity for unlawfully collecting, using, and selling driving data from over 45 million Americans. The two companies are accused of paying millions of dollars to app developers to embed tracking code in widely used mobile apps to gather the location […]
New FireScam Android malware poses as RuStore app to steal data
A new Android malware named ‘FireScam’ is being distributed as a premium version of the Telegram app via phishing websites on GitHub that mimick the RuStore, Russia’s app market for mobile devices. RuStore launched in May 2022 by the Russian internet group VK (VKontakte) as an alternative to Google Play and Apple’s App Store, following […]
Russian cyberspies target Android users with new spyware
Russian cyberspies Gamaredon has been discovered using two Android spyware families named ‘BoneSpy’ and ‘PlainGnome’ to spy on and steal data from mobile devices. According to Lookout, which discovered the two malware families, BoneSpy has been active since 2021, while PlainGnome emerged in 2024. Both target Russian-speaking individuals in former Soviet states. Gamaredon (aka “Shuckworm”) is […]
New EagleMsgSpy Android spyware used by Chinese police, researchers say
A previously undocumented Android spyware called ‘EagleMsgSpy’ has been discovered and is believed to be used by law enforcement agencies in China to monitor mobile devices. According to a new report by Lookout, the spyware was developed by Wuhan Chinasoft Token Information Technology Co., Ltd. and has been operational since at least 2017. Lookout presents abundant […]