Displaying items by tag: Spyware

The Discord chat system is being increasingly targeted by the malware fraternity, according to security vendor Sophos

Android malware, which has been given the name Flubot, has spread across a number of unspecified European countries, the Slovakian security firm ESET says, adding that once infected, the entire device is open to the malware.

New versions of the surveillance tool FinSpy have been found, the Russian security outfit Kaspersky says, adding that attackers can use the software to spy on the activities of mobile devices and exfiltrate GPS location data, messages, photographs and call details.

Researchers from the security firm Lookout have found a version of the Exodus spyware that runs on iOS, with indications that it is made available through phishing sites that imitate mobile carriers from Italy and Turkmenistan.

A researcher from Kaspersky Lab says the company found 58.847 users who had a stalkerware application — a commercial version of spyware — installed on their Android phones or tablets in 2018, according to analysis of data collected from those who had Kaspersky anti-virus software running on their devices.

Ahead of its annual Security Analyst Summit which begins in Singapore next Monday, security firm Kaspersky Lab has upgraded its security app for Android so that it will detect common commercial apps that are known to be spying on users.

Security researchers at the group Security Without Borders say they have found a new Android spyware platform that spread through a number of apps aimed at Italian users. They have named it Exodus and since it consists of two stages, these have been called Exodus One and Exodus Two.

A union has demanded the Federal Government investigate the ride-sharing firm Uber after a program on the ABC on Monday night exposed the fact that the company escaped scrutiny by authorities and used spyware to get rid of business rivals.

British spyware company Gamma Group is facing legal action from four Bahrainis who claim the company knowingly sold its wares to the Bahraini Government knowing that it would be used to crack down on dissidents like them during the Arab spring of 2011.

A sacked employee of the Israeli cyber security form NSO Group Technologies stole the source code for the company's Pegasus spy software and tried to sell it on the dark web for the equivalent of US$50 million in cryptocurrency.

Android spyware that has a wide range of functionality has been found by the security firm Kaspersky Lab, which likens it to the wares of Italian company Hacking Team that suffered a major data breach in 2015.

A variant of the FinFisher spyware is being spread in seven countries through legitimate applications like WhatsApp, Skype, Avast, WinRAR and VLC Player, the security company ESET says.

Microsoft has issued a patch to fix a flaw in its Office suite that was being used to spread spyware known as FINSPY.

Hardware vendor Lenovo has paid a sum of US$3.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the US Federal Trade Commission on behalf of 32 American states over charges that the company's laptops came with spyware pre-installed between August and December 2014.

Chinese authorities in the western province of Xinjiang have issued instructions to residents to install spyware on their mobile devices.

A total of 43 Android phone makers, not three as originally reported, have been caught using ADUPS software to collect personally identifiable information without consent.

Despite ADUPS publicly announcing that its data snooping on 700 million Android smartphones was a “technical mistake”, the New York Times has said that American authorities say it is not clear whether the Chinese government was involved in the collection of this personal data. In the past China has been known to use a variety of methods to filter and track Internet usage and monitor online conversations.

It is a sad day when we are talking about spyware on smartphones sending personally identifiable information to China and the fact that some global companies think it is OK to take security and privacy away from consumers.

iOS 9.3.5, released overnight, fixes three flaws exploited by government agencies to spy on individuals.

Cloud security software as a service provider (SAAS), MailGuard, has partnered with fellow security company, Southern Cross Protection (SXP), to enhance SXP’s core offering from physical security to include cyber-protection for its customers.