Security News

Mali GPU ‘patch gap’ leaves Android users vulnerable to attacks
2022-11-23 15:59

A set of five exploitable vulnerabilities in Arm's Mali GPU driver remain unfixed months after the chip maker patched them, leaving potentially millions of Android devices exposed to attacks. The vulnerability impacts Arm Mali GPU kernel drivers Valhall r29p0 to r38p0.

Android file manager apps infect thousands with Sharkbot malware
2022-11-22 16:04

A new collection of malicious Android apps posing as harmless file managers had infiltrated the official Google Play app store, infecting users with the Sharkbot banking trojan. Because the trojan apps are file managers, it's less likely to raise suspicions when requesting dangerous permissions for loading the Sharkbot malware.

DuckDuckGo now lets all Android users block trackers in their apps
2022-11-16 13:00

DuckDuckGo for Android's 'App Tracking Protection' feature has reached open beta, allowing all Android users to block third-party trackers across all their installed apps. The 'App Tracking Protection' aims to increase privacy throughout the entire operating system by blocking third-party tracking scripts in other Android apps installed on the device.

Google to Roll Out Privacy Sandbox Beta on Android 13 by Early 2023
2022-11-16 05:24

Internet behemoth Google on Tuesday said it plans to roll out Privacy Sandbox for Android in beta to mobile devices running Android 13 starting early next year. "The Privacy Sandbox Beta will be available for ad tech and app developers who wish to test the ads-related APIs as part of their solutions," the company said.

Google to roll out Privacy Sandbox on Android 13 starting early 2023
2022-11-15 18:00

Google announced today that they will begin rolling out the Privacy Sandbox system on a limited number of Android 13 devices starting in early 2023. The Privacy Sandbox is a set of technologies Google introduced in February this year, aiming to limit the tracking of users while still providing advertisers with viable performance-measurement options.

Google will pay $391M to settle Android location tracking lawsuit
2022-11-14 19:14

Google has agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle a privacy lawsuit filed by a coalition of attorneys general from 40 U.S. states. The settlement shows that the U.S. attorneys general discovered while investigating a 2018 Associated Press article that the search giant misled Android users and tracked their locations since at least 2014 even when they thought location tracking was disabled.

Android phone owner accidentally finds a way to bypass lock screen
2022-11-12 15:07

Cybersecurity researcher David Schütz accidentally found a way to bypass the lock screen on his fully patched Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 5 smartphones, enabling anyone with physical access to the device to unlock it. Exploiting the vulnerability to bypass the lock screen on Android phones is a simple five-step process that wouldn't take more than a few minutes.

Microsoft Defender network protection generally available on iOS, Android
2022-11-11 20:01

Microsoft announced that the Mobile Network Protection feature is generally available to help organizations detect network weaknesses affecting Android and iOS devices running Microsoft's Defender for Endpoint enterprise endpoint security platform.Once Mobile Network Protection is toggled, MDE will provide protection and alerts when rogue Wi-Fi-related threats and certificates are detected.

Dangerous SIM-swap lockscreen bypass – update Android now!
2022-11-11 19:59

According to Schütz, he stumbled on a total Android lockscreen bypass bug entirely by accident in June 2022, under real-life conditions that could easily have happened to anyone. In Schütz's case, it was the humble PIN on his SIM card that stumped him, and because SIM PINs can be as short as four digits, they're protected by a hardware lockout that limits you to three guesses at most.

New BadBazaar Android malware linked to Chinese cyberspies
2022-11-11 16:26

A previously undocumented Android spyware tool named 'BadBazaar' has been discovered targeting ethnic and religious minorities in China, most notably the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Uyghurs, a regional Muslim minority of roughly 13 million people, have suffered extreme oppression from the central Chinese government due to their cultural deviation from typical eastern Chinese values.