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Researchers Find Google Play Store Apps Were Actually Government Malware (vice.com)
Security researchers have found a new kind of government malware that was hiding in plain sight within apps on Android's Play Store. And they appear to have uncovered a case of lawful intercept gone wrong. An anonymous reader writes: This new case once again highlights the limits of Google's filters that are intended to prevent malware from slipping onto the Play Store. In this case, more than 20 malicious apps went unnoticed by Google over the course of roughly two years. Motherboard has also learned of a new kind of Android malware on the Google Play store that was sold to the Italian government by a company that sells surveillance cameras but was not known to produce malware until now. Experts told Motherboard the operation may have ensnared innocent victims as the spyware appears to have been faulty and poorly targeted. Legal and law enforcement experts told Motherboard the spyware could be illegal. The spyware apps were discovered and studied in a joint investigation by researchers from Security Without Borders, a non-profit that often investigates threats against dissidents and human rights defenders, and Motherboard. The researchers published a detailed, technical report of their findings on Friday.
Is anyone else tired of hearing about this sort of stuff (malware found in apps or whatever), where no one tells us what apps they determined to be malicious? Well, here ya go.
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
At this point, I assume that 99% of all apps are written by assholes, fucking assholes, and complete morons.
If they're not intentionally spying on you and not telling you, or actively being malware and scamming you, they're written by incompetent morons and still leaking your personal data.
I've given up on looking for, or caring about apps, and have been just un-installing most of them.
Most of them are little more than ad platforms at best, or trying to steal your money.
The state of mobile apps has been reduced to a pile of garbage by malicious and incompetent actors.
No thanks, I'll do my internet stuff on a browser I can run proper extensions to block third party shit. There's very little left in the domain of apps that add any value these days.
Apps were good and interesting for a while, but they've pretty much degraded to ads and analytics, with shit privacy. Fuck that.
As an Android owner, I don't really care about this. Don't install all kinds of crap and you'll be reasonably safe.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
It's a pretty good idea to run new apps in an environment where you can monitor network traffic and see what they are sending.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That would be way more information than anyone could possibly want from an article like that. We want the ads and the fluff you create around it, certainly not the information which apps to avoid.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm glad you posted that because he really hurt my feelings.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
You act is if Attorney General Barr authorized illegal wiretapping on all overseas telephone and other communication on Americans back during Iran-Contra, and never got legal authorization for any of this.
Personally, I enjoyed visiting the Yakima facility back in the day.
Now you act all shocked they upload apps designed to spy on you.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I keep reading that you aren't nice, APK. What's up with that?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
"Researchers Find Google Is Actually Government Malware"
FTFY.