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from the don't-bother-calling-me-I-can-already-hear-you dept.
As many as 600 million Samsung phones may be vulnerable to attacks that allow hackers to surreptitiously monitor the camera and microphone, read incoming and outgoing text messages, and install malicious apps, a security researcher said.
The vulnerability is in the update mechanism for a Samsung-customized version of SwiftKey, available on the Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, and several other Galaxy models. When downloading updates, the Samsung devices don't encrypt the executable file, making it possible for attackers in a position to modify upstream traffic—such as those on the same Wi-Fi network—to replace the legitimate file with a malicious payload. The exploit was demonstrated Tuesday at the Blackhat security conference in London by Ryan Welton, a researcher with security firm NowSecure. A video of his exploit is here.
Thus will hackers be treated to front row seats to 600 million pockets full of lint.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by mendax on Saturday June 20 2015, @03:45AM
I went to see the doctor yesterday afternoon to have my head and neck checked out after getting knocked off my motorcycle by an idiot who rear-ended me on Tuesday. He was surprised when I told him I didn't have a smart phone, like I was some space alien from Mars. Well, maybe I acted like a Martian because of the mild concussion he diagnosed. Not surprisingly, while he was giving me the handouts for how to deal with concussion and whiplash his iPhone rang.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Saturday June 20 2015, @12:38PM
Hope you're okay dude. That sucks.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Sunday June 21 2015, @04:57AM
Well, I'm alive enough to read postings here, and type them in. I guess that's something. But no work! Woohoo!
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.