Security News
Researchers have discovered a new Android spyware campaign pushing a "Pro" version of the TikTok app that is exploiting fears among its young and gullible users that the popular social media app is on the cusp of being banned in the United States. The rogue app called TikTok Pro is being promoted by threat actors using a variant of a campaign already making the rounds, which urges users via SMS and WhatsApp messages to download the latest version of TikTok from a specific web address, said Zscaler senior security researcher Shivang Desai, in a report published Tuesday.
US retail giant Walmart said Thursday it had teamed with Microsoft to buy TikTok, the Chinese-owned short-form video app that has come under fire from the administration of President Donald Trump. The order effectively set a deadline for a sale of TikTok to a US company, with Trump insisting that the US should get a cut for its role in making the deal happen.
As tensions soared between the world's two biggest economies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days to stop doing business with TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance - effectively setting a deadline for a sale of the app to a US company. "Today we are filing a complaint in federal court challenging the administration's efforts to ban TikTok in the US," the company said in a blog post.
Video app TikTok said Saturday it will challenge in court a Trump administration crackdown on the popular Chinese-owned platform, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat. As tensions soar between the world's two biggest economies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans 45 days to stop doing business with TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance - effectively setting a deadline for a potential pressured sale of the app to a US company.
TikTok has stepped up its defense against US accusations that the popular video app is a national security threat, denouncing what it called "Rumors and misinformation" about its links to the Chinese government. US user data is stored here, with a backup in Singapore, according to TikTok.
Social media apps put corporate networks at risk and provide raw material for deep fakes. Based on data from data from November 2019 to April 2020, 39% of abandoned apps with live installs were in the productivity category, and 30% were in games and entertainment.
TikTok has been collecting unique identifiers from millions of Android devices without their users' knowledge using a tactic previously prohibited by Google because it violated people's privacy, new research has found. The app bundled the MAC address with other device data and sent it to ByteDance upon the app's first installation and opening on a new device, according to the report.
The US bans on Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat are not particularly valuable for US security, experts told AFP Friday, but could step up broader commercial pressure on Beijing and help President Donald Trump appear tough as he seeks reelection. The WeChat ban especially, they say, actually harms a large number of Chinese Americans, US-based Chinese, and businesses working with China, all for whom the app is essential to communications.
The United States has fired a new salvo in its rivalry with China, ordering sweeping restrictions against Chinese-owned social media stars TikTok and WeChat. It belongs to Chinese tech firm ByteDance and targets the international market while Douyin, a domestic version of the platform, caters exclusively to Chinese users.
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered a sweeping but unspecified ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S. The twin executive orders - one for each app - take effect in 45 days. The administration has provided no specific evidence that TikTok has made U.S. users' data available to the Chinese government.