According to a recent study, one of the latest tricks hackers have employed is the use of malicious apps to not only spy on you, but also steal sensitive information like passwords and financial data from your smartphone. Security researchers from the University of Michigan have found a weakness in Android, iOS, and Windows operating systems that allow these malicious apps to run in the background of your phone and spy on other popular apps such as email or banking applications.
So how exactly does this work and what can you do to protect yourself?
First the user downloads what they believe to be is a harmless, such as a ringtone or wallpaper app from the app store. However this app is actually running a program in the background that is hijacking your shared memory as it records everything that you are doing on your phone in real time As part of this study, Researcher Qi Alfred Chen has posted a video which demonstrates how this attack occurs as it steals the login credentials and the social security number from an H&R Block app. Once this malicious app is launched, it also begins to track user behavior and record sensitive information, which is then relayed back to the attacker. The scary thing is that these apps do not require any special permission from you to gain access to your shared memory, making them all the more dangerous.
To protect yourself from such an attack, it is wise to think twice before you download any random app, and make sure you check out the reviews and developer information. Often these malicious apps are difficult to identify, as they masquerade as something else. Only download apps from ligament sources and remove any apps from your device that do not meet your expectations or are no longer in use. Report any suspect activities to your provider.
No comments:
Post a Comment