Report: Mobile Devices can be Hijacked

Update: check the latest version of Comodo’s free mobile security app

Researchers believe to have found a flaw within Android apps that can be used to attack iOS, as well as Windows apps. The flaw involves memory space used by the apps that were tested. This was found to remain true, even despite sandboxing, which is designed to isolate various apps with the intention of isolating shared memory issues.

Malicious apps can be downloaded and continuously run in the background of an Android device without you ever knowing. This is very bad news for your mobile device and is designed to wreak havoc on your handheld mobile phone or tablet. While the threat is not as large for iOS devices, both Windows and iOS can always be at risk, as well.

The malicious apps are inconspicuous, low energy and require minimal permissions, keeping you in the dark when it comes to noticing that something is amiss. This is what the creators of these malicious apps were aiming for, and they have Succeeded for now.

Not only can these apps damage your device, they can emulate other apps you use and interject fake interface elements onto your screen, making you think that it is the app you intended to be using at the time. This man-in-the-middle attack is used frequently to infiltrate devices everywhere, with little recourse for the user.

This malicious app attack can be used for more than simply getting into your device. Through what is called a “camera peeking attack,” sensitive image files can also become accessed through a system in which the malicious app watches and waits for you to snap a picture, after which the malware quickly creates its own copy, basically stealing your image to use for its own purposes. This makes taking photos on your mobile phone or tablet much less secure, rendering your devices camera virtually useless.

This is all the more reason to use the feature rich Comodo Mobile Antivirus for Android, which happens to be available for free! It can prevent this situation and in the event that something unusual is going on with your device is has the management tools to identify it. It even includes lost/theft protection and recovery features.

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