Google pulled nearly 300 malicious apps from the Google Play Store this week, after a team of researchers from several internet companies discovered that they were all hijacking phones’ power into a massive international botnet spanning more than 100 countries. [More]
android
Spyware Found In Over 500 Android Apps, Together Downloaded More Than 100M Times
By 8.23.17
Official storefronts that sell apps — Google Play and Apple’s App Store — do their best to make sure everything they’re distributing to you isn’t going to wreck your phone or steal your data. But one vulnerability in code used in hundreds of Android apps has allowed malicious actors to change what your app does after you download and install it, and the problem has affected millions. [More]
Malware Being Spread Through Fake Android Antivirus Apps
By 6.14.17
Given the increasing number of cyber attacks on web-connected devices, it makes sense to have quality anti-malware protections on your phone. However, some “antivirus” apps lurking in the crowded app marketplace are really just fakes waiting to infect your device. [More]
Google Assistant Now Works On iPhone
By 5.17.17
While Apple’s iPhone apps don’t cross over onto Google’s Android devices, an array of Google apps have long been available for iOS, and today Google confirmed that its virtual Assistant service will soon be sharing space on your iPhone next to Siri. [More]
You Can’t Get The Netflix App On A Rooted Android Phone Anymore
By 5.15.17
Folks who enjoy tinkering with their Android phones have gotten a rude surprise this week: As far as Netflix is concerned, their phones no longer exist, and can no longer install or update the streaming video app. [More]
Google Says Android, Chrome Vulnerabilities Detailed In WikiLeaks Documents Resolved
By 3.9.17
A day after Apple and Samsung announced that they had fixed or were working to fix vulnerabilities referenced in WikiLeaks’ data dump of alleged “Vault 7” CIA documents, Google has followed suit, noting that it has addressed any exploitable vulnerabilities in its Android and Chrome OS devices. [More]
Ransomware Spreading Onto Smart TVs, Is A Pain To Fix
By 1.6.17 — Updated: 1.7.17
Streaming TV has been a boon for consumers. Programming is everywhere, right at our fingertips, as soon as we get our screens online. But that connectivity comes with a big risk: wherever there’s an internet connection, there’s a possibility for bad guys to show up. And now they are showing up in the real world, holding TV sets hostage with ransomware and demanding cash to let you access your own stuff. [More]
Malicious Android Apps Have Taken Over More Than 1M Google Accounts
By 11.30.16
Is there something lurking in your phone that shouldn’t be? Malware designed to look like real Android apps has taken control of more than a million Google accounts since August, according to a new report from security researchers. [More]
Some Android Phones Might Be Sending All Your Texts To China
By 11.15.16
Smartphones are ubiquitous. Everyone has one, and they come with all kinds of features. Some Android phones, though, apparently have an unwanted extra: a secret backdoor that sends all of your text messages to China. [More]
Apple Reportedly, Maybe, Possibly Thinking About Bringing iMessage To Android Devices
By 10.26.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
If there’s one feeling that many iOS users share, it’s the anticipatory rush you get when you see those three blinking dots in the iMessage app that means someone is typing (unless they just stop and destroy you entirely). Android users may someday share that distinct emotion, according to renewed buzz. [More]
New Google Accounts Now Opted-In To Ad Tracking Features By Default
By 10.25.16
Remember when Google’s default setting was to maximize your privacy? Well, Google doesn’t. The internet’s biggest advertising company has now quietly shifted its baseline privacy behavior, so you’ll want to watch out if you’re creating any new accounts. [More]
Feds Use Search Warrant To Make Everyone In Building Unlock Their Phones
By 10.19.16
If the cops show up with a search warrant, well, you expect they can search the premises. But showing up with a warrant that says every single person on a certain property has to unlock their fingerprint-reading phones and present them for search, too? That’s… pretty surprising. And yet, it turns out, earlier this year, that’s what happened in California. [More]
Verizon Wants To Sell App Installations On Your Phone To Advertisers
By 8.16.16
Space on your Android phone is for sale, if you’re a Verizon customer, and according to ad agency executives who have worked on such deals. Verizon activates an estimated 20 million new Android phones every year, so even a small amount per installation could add up for the mobile company, assuming that customers would tolerate it. Would they? [More]
Apple Music’s Real Android App Is Ready
By 8.4.16
Last November, Apple fulfilled its promise to bring its subscription music service to Android users. Only, that app was simply a beta of Apple Music. Today, the company unveiled its real app. [More]
Android Users Can Now Download Amazon Prime Videos Onto SD Cards
By 7.15.16
For those folks who might not be willing to shell out more money for more storage on their smartphone or other mobile device, it can be tough to watch videos without having to shuffle around other stuff to make room. Android users who are Amazon Prime customers will now be saved from that dance, as the tech company will now let them download Prime video content to removable SD memory cards. [More]
BlackBerry Not Ready To Give Up On Making Handsets That Run On Its OS Just Yet
By 7.12.16
After BlackBerry announced it would be pulling the plug on its BlackBerry Classic smartphone, its last device to use a physical keyboard, the news was greeted with sadness by some and shrugs by others. Either way, BlackBerry says it’s not necessarily done making handsets that run on its proprietary operating system just yet. [More]
Google Creates One-Stop Shop To Show You Just How Much It Knows About You
By 6.29.16
Google is everywhere. It’s the world’s biggest search engine, the most popular phone operating system, the most popular web browser, an incredibly popular e-mail service, and a thousand other things. That means it knows a lot about you, especially if you you log in to a Google account and sync or unify your profile about services. Seeing exactly how much it is they know about you, and how it’s used… well, that’s been a little harder. Until now. [More]
Google Pays $550K To People Who Found Security Issues With Android
By 6.17.16
One year after Google launched its Android Security Rewards program that aimed to compensate researchers who discovered vulnerabilities in the company’s products — software, tablets, and phones – the tech giant announced the program was a success, divvying out more than $550,000.
[More]
