Security News

Malicious Behavior Allegedly Found in Advertising SDK Used by 1,200 iOS Apps
2020-08-24 16:27

Researchers at developer security company Snyk claim to have identified malicious behavior in an advertising SDK that is present in more than 1,200 iOS applications offered in the Apple App Store. Snyk says it has only identified the malicious behavior in iOS versions of the Mintegral advertising SDK; the code does not appear to be present in Android versions.

Advertising Plugin for WordPress Threatens Full Site Takeovers
2020-07-08 20:12

The Adning Advertising plugin for WordPress, a premium plugin with over 8,000 customers, contains a critical remote code-execution vulnerability with the potential to be exploited by unauthenticated attackers. In May for instance, Page Builder by SiteOrigin, a WordPress plugin with a million active installs that's used to build websites via a drag-and-drop function, was found to harbor two flaws that could allow full site takeover.

Stop tracking me, Google: Austrian citizen files GDPR legal complaint over Android Advertising ID
2020-05-13 18:15

Privacy pressure group Noyb has filed a legal complaint against Google on behalf of an Austrian citizen, claiming the Android Advertising ID on every Android device is "Personal data" as defined by the EU's GDPR and that this data is illegally processed. The complaint against Google, which was filed with the Austrian Data Protection Authority, is based on the claim that Google's Android operating system generates the advertising ID without user choice as required by GDPR. "In essence, you buy a new Android phone, but by adding a tracking ID they ship you a tracking device," said Noyb lawyer Stefano Rossetti.

Google exiles 600 apps from Play Store for 'disruptive advertising' amid push to clean up Android souk's image
2020-02-21 00:36

On Thursday Google confirmed it has removed nearly 600 Android apps from the Google Play Store and banned them from its ad services for violating its policies on disruptive advertising and interstitials. Such purges have become a regular occurrence on platforms where third-party developers are afforded some freedom, like Google Play, the Chrome Web Store, and even the iOS App Store.

ThreatList: Google’s Advertising Network Dominates Global Data Collection
2019-10-23 16:43

With DoubleClick, Analytics and AdWords under its belt, Google continues dominating when it comes to global data collection for advertising, a new report found.

Twitter used 2FA phone numbers for targeted advertising
2019-10-10 11:44

Twitter may have “inadvertently” handed phone and email data from some users to advertisers as part of its Tailored Audiences system that targets users’ feeds with ads.

Twitter 2FA phone numbers “inadvertently” used for advertising purposes
2019-10-09 12:13

Twitter’s Support account published the following announcement on Tuesday: We recently found that some email addresses and phone numbers provided for account security may have been used...

UK Regulator Calls Out Compliance Failures in Targeted Advertising Industry
2019-06-21 11:04

The UK regulator for data protection and privacy (the Information Commissioner's Office -- ICO) has published a report on its ongoing investigation into the adtech and real-time bidding (RTB)...

Google takes the PIS out of advertising: New algo securely analyzes shared encrypted data sets without leaking contents
2019-06-19 21:47

Plus: MongoDB crams end-to-end crypto into database tech Google on Wednesday released source code for a project called Private Join and Compute that allows two parties to analyze and compare...

Thousands of Android apps bypass Advertising ID to track users
2019-02-19 13:23

Six years after it was introduced, it looks as if Android’s Advertising ID (AAID) might no longer be the privacy forcefield Google claimed it would be.