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from the here's-looking-at-^W^W-watching-you,-kid dept.
Google has expelled 20 Android apps from its Play marketplace after finding they contained code for monitoring and extracting users' e-mail, text messages, locations, voice calls, and other sensitive data.
The apps, which made their way onto about 100 phones, exploited known vulnerabilities to "root" devices running older versions of Android. Root status allowed the apps to bypass security protections built into the mobile operating system. As a result, the apps were capable of surreptitiously accessing sensitive data stored, sent, or received by at least a dozen other apps, including Gmail, Hangouts, LinkedIn, and Messenger. The now-ejected apps also collected messages sent and received by Whatsapp, Telegram, and Viber, which all encrypt data in an attempt to make it harder for attackers to intercept messages while in transit.
To conceal their surveillance capabilities, the apps posed as utilities for cleaning unwanted files or backing up data. Google said the apps contained evidence that they were developed by a cyber arms company called Equus Technologies. In April, Google officials warned of a different family of Android surveillance apps developed by a different provider of intercept tools called NSO Group Technologies. Those apps were related to the advanced iOS spyware known as Pegasus, which was used against a political dissident located in the United Arab Emirates. In that case, however, the Pegasus-related Android apps never made their way into Google Play.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by aim on Tuesday August 01 2017, @06:25AM (2 children)
Many Android apps ask for way too many permissions. When I look for some sort of tool, I make the permissions one of my main criteria - does it ask for stuff that it has no business looking at? If so, no thanks! Of course, these are at least obvious, rather than exploiting the OS.
It gets so tedious I hardly ever go through the motions anymore, only install stuff I absolutely have a need for on the mobile - rather than just do whatever it is on my computer.
Frankly, I don't see it matters that much whether you'd get spied on by some state (Equus is probably a front for some secret service), or by whatever private entities out there. Privacy ain't what it used to be... if ever.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday August 01 2017, @06:46AM
You'll be surprised I guess by how much money one can make by crafting/selling surveillance tools as a private entity.
E.g.BAE [bbc.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by bart9h on Tuesday August 01 2017, @04:57PM
When I look for some sort of tool, I always check the F-Droid repository [f-droid.org] first.
In case you don't know, it's like an app market, but with only verified Free software. I currently have dozens of apps installed from there.