Spyware
SpyLoan Android malware on Google play installed 8 million times
A new set of 15 SpyLoan Android malware apps with over 8 million installs was discovered on Google Play, targeting primarily users from South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. The apps were discovered by McAfee, a member of the ‘App Defense Alliance,’ and have now been removed from Android’s official app store. However, their presence on […]
NSO Group used another WhatsApp zero-day after being sued, court docs say
Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group reportedly used multiple zero-day exploits, including an unknown one named “Erised,” that leveraged WhatsApp vulnerabilities to deploy Pegasus spyware in zero-click attacks, even after getting sued. Pegasus is NSO Group’s spyware platform (marketed as surveillance software for governments worldwide), with multiple software components that provide customers with extensive surveillance capabilities over […]
US cracks down on spyware vendor Intellexa with more sanctions
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned five executives and one entity linked to the Intellexa Consortium for developing and distributing Predator commercial spyware. Intellexa Consortium is a network of decentralized companies that developed and sold highly intrusive spyware products marketed under the “Predator” brand. Predator spyware has allowed Intellexa customers worldwide — mostly […]
New LianSpy malware hides by blocking Android security feature
A previously undocumented Android malware named ‘LightSpy’ has been discovered targeting Russian users, posing on phones as an Alipay app or a system service to evade detection. Analysis shows that LianSpy has been actively targeting Android users since July 2021, but its extensive stealth capabilities helped it remain undetected for over three years. Kaspersky researchers […]
Android spyware ‘Mandrake’ hidden in apps on Google Play since 2022
A new version of the Android spyware ‘Mandrake’ has been found in five applications downloaded 32,000 times from Google Play, the platform’s official app store. Bitdefender first documented Mandrake in 2020, with the researchers highlighting the malware’s sophisticated spying capabilities and noting that it has operated in the wild since at least 2016. Kaspersky now reports that […]