Yes, Google can remotely reset Android passcodes, but there’s a catch

Newer Android phone and tablet owners aren’t affected, but it does say something about Android’s fragmentation of device security.

The one-sided encryption debate continues. Now, it’s being used as a tool to spread what’s commonly known as “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”

If you ventured to Reddit, you might have read a startling claim by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, who last week released a report into smartphone encryption and public safety.

It reads [PDF]:

“Google can reset the passcodes when served with a search warrant and an order instructing them to assist law enforcement to extract data from the device. This process can be done by Google remotely and allows forensic examiners to view the contents of a device.”

But there’s a problem: that’s only half of the story. And while it’s true, it requires a great deal more context.

The next few lines read:

“For Android devices running operating systems Lollipop 5.0 and above, however, Google plans to use default [device] encryption, like that being used by Apple, that will make it impossible for Google to comply with search warrants and orders instructing them to assist with device data extraction.”

If you thought you heard that before, that’s because you have.

Google, which develops Android, said in its “Lollipop” 5.0 upgrade two years ago it would enable device encryption by default, which forces law enforcement, federal agents, and intelligence agencies to go to the device owner themselves rather than Google.

This so-called “zero knowledge” encryption — because the phone makers have zero knowledge of your encryption keys — also led Apple to do a similar thing with iOS 8 and later. Apple now has 91 percent of its devices using device encryption.

However, there was some flip-flopping on Google’s part because there were reports of poor device performance. Eventually, the company said it would bring device encryption by default to its own brand of Nexus devices. Then, it said that its newest “Marshmallow” 6.0 upgrade will enable device encryption by default.

It took a year, but Google got there in the end. 

The US government, and its law enforcement and prosecutors were concerned. They have argued that they need access to device data, but now they have to go to the very people they are investigating or prosecuting.

Only a fraction of Android devices, however, are protected.

According to latest figures, only 0.3 percent of all Android devices are running “Marshmallow” 6.0, which comes with device encryption by default. And while “Lollipop” 5.0 is used on more than one-quarter of all Android devices, the vast majority of those who have device encryption enabled by default are Nexus owners.

To read more and the original story follow this link to ZD Net.

Chinese Marketing Firm Spreads Adware to Promote Its App Portfolio

A Chinese company that markets itself as a mobile app promoter has been cheating its clients by deploying adware to install their apps on unsuspecting victims.

The company, named NGE Mobi/Xinyinhe, activating in China and Singapore, has been using popular apps, repackaged with the malicious adware code, which it distributes through unofficial Android app stores.

When users install these apps on their smartphones, the adware comes to life, collects information about the device, sends it to a C&C server, and then waits for new commands.

The adware can gain root access and boot persistence

When the server answers, the app moves to install a root backdoor and a series of system daemons that allow it to survive system reboots.

Here is where the fun begins, because once the adware is firmly implanted on the victim’s phone, it starts serving apps and ads, all from NGE Mobi/Xinyinhe’s portfolio.

As FireEye found out in their research, most of the times pornographic apps and ad interstitials are displayed on the user’s home screen, all harmless but very annoying.

Currently, the adware has been found on Android versions ranging from 2.3.4 to 5.1.1. with the most infected users in countries like Russia, China, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, India, the UK, and the US.

The NGE adware campaign was first observed in August and has grown at a constant pace ever since.

The adware can be hijacked to deliver more dangerous malware

What’s even worse, as FireEye researchers point out, is that the adware’s creators were extremely careless when they put together the malicious code.

Because the C&C server communications are carried out via blind HTTP channels, a second attacker could easily intercept these transmissions.

Since the adware gains root privileges and boot persistence over all infected devices, another attacker could use this to serve much more dangerous apps compared to silly adult apps and ads.

The first example that comes to mind is when the second attacker adds infected phones to a botnet and uses them to carry out DDOS attacks. Worse scenarios are when attackers decide to go snooping through your private pictures or install ransomware on your phone.

For more information and more photos follow this link to Softpedia

New Android Malware Sprouting Like Weeds

Information stored on an Android smartphone or tablet is vulnerable to almost 4,900 new malware files each day, according to a report G Data SecurityLabs released Wednesday.

Cybercriminals’ interest in the Android operating system has grown, the firm’s Q1 2015 Mobile Malware Report revealed.

“The report suggests that Android devices are becoming a bigger target for the bad guys and more profitable than in previous years,” said Andy Hayter, security evangelist for G Data.

The number of new malware samples in the first quarter increased 6.4 percent (440,267) from the fourth quarter of last year (413,871). The number of malware strains rose by 21 percent compared with the first quarter of 2014 (316,153).

More than 2 million new Android malware strains are likely to surface this year, G Data security predicted.

Just the Start

The 2 million figure is very realistic, due to the increasing use of Android devices for banking and shopping online, G Data suggested.

“The report shows that the OS has a bigger market share than the others, and thus is more interesting to security researchers and malware authors alike. Also, a lot of vendors offer Android devices varying in quality standards, but that is not a problem of the OS itself, but rather of the vendor in question,” Hayter told LinuxInsider.

Google introduced premium SMS Checks last year. After that, the malware models started to spread out, he noted.

“Before that time there were a few very active malware families, such as SMS FakeInstaller,” Hayter said. “Since then there are lots of small families.”

Financially Motivated

At least 41 percent of consumers in Europe and 50 percent in the U.S. use a smartphone or tablet for their banking transactions. Plus, 78 percent of Internet users make purchases online.

The new malware files have a financial foundation, according to the G Data report. At least half of all Android malware now in circulation includes banking Trojans, SMS Trojans and similar malware components.

The actual percentage of malware-infected Android apps easily could be higher, the researchers warned. They only studied malware with a direct financial purpose — many other types of cases might exist.

For example, a malware program might install apps or steal credit card data as an additional process after a payment is made. Because that type of malware would not seem to be financially motivated, it would not have been included in the report’s statistics.

Thin Dividing Line

Free Android apps offer particularly attractive attack vectors to cybercriminals. Many apps, especially free apps, rely on advertising to fund their development.

Bad apps can hide themselves in the background or conceal functions from users. Bad apps also can send legitimate apps’ data to additional advertising networks.

Apps that do such things — like programs running on PC OSes — are called “Potentially Unwanted Programs,” or PUPs. The report categorizes such apps as adware, noting that they often hide in manipulated or fake apps that are installed from sources other than the Google Play Store.

Malware Magnet

Android is a derivative of Linux, an operating system generally considered less likely to be targeted by viruses and malware. However, Android is less rigorous and less secure than other mobile platforms, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

“There is much more sideloading, which means there is a far easier path to getting viruses on Android devices than any other mobile platform,” he told LinuxInsider.

Google historically has been less focused on security and customer satisfaction than firms that are more closely tied to user revenue, Enderle said. Another reason for Android’s vulnerability is that mobile platforms generally don’t run security software.

Historically, they have been somewhat protected because of their tight ties to curated stores, “but now that smartphones have PC-like performance, they are becoming a magnet for malware,” noted Enderle.

“Google’s lack of focus on this problem, reminiscent of Microsoft’s similar mistake in the late 1990s — which resulted in their having to rethink their OS and create Windows XP — has created a massive exposure for Android users,” he said.

To read more follow this link to Linux Insider.

Amazon May Release Smartphone on June 18th

Ever since Amazon released the first Kindle Fire tablet,we’ve been curious to know is the company was interested in a Smartphone…
Rumors have shown that a Smartphone is in works for quite a time now,and rumors also have talked about unusual features like a multi camera gesture tracking system and a pseudo-3D eye tracking interface…
Rumors also talked about a launch as soon as this quarter,and that seems to be true as Amazon has revealed its plans for a June 18 event,where the company may well release the phone…

Amazon has also posted a teaser video,that doesn’t shows the device in question,but shows users interacting with it…and there talk of how it “moves with them” and the shorts of them moving there head back and forth to see how the product performs,fits nicely with our expectation of pseudo-3D eye tracking… 

Source: Tech-Met

RIM Considering Selling Its Hardware Production Arm, Post BlackBerry 10 Launch

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins

Research In Motion is considering selling its hardware production arm after the launch of BlackBerry 10, as one of a number of potential actions. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said that a strategic review could lead towards the sale, or potentially offering licenses for its software to other manufacturers, opening the door to non-RIM BlackBerry devices in the future.

In an interview with Die Welt, Heins confirmed the company was mulling over various courses of action it could take. When asked about licensing its software in a similar manner to how Microsoft licenses out its Windows Phone OS, Heins said that such a thing could only take place after their own products are released. “Before you license the software, you must show that the platform has a large potential,” said Heins, who also claimed the delay for BlackBerry 10 was due to the company building a platform “that is future-proof for the next ten years.” He also suggested that BlackBerry 10 could be used in devices other than smartphones, such as in cars and other vehicular systems.

The perception that BlackBerry was a tool for business was also attacked by Heins, referring to large consumer markets in Indonesia, South Africa, and the UK. While BlackBerry 10 will be launching globally, Heins will be looking at the less developed mobile markets for growth, as opposed to the US and Europe, which the company hopes will more than recoup the 1 million users that left the BlackBerry platform between the second and third quarters, leaving it currently at 79 million.

RIM’s most recent financial results saw revenues fall 5 percent to $2.7 billion, and an adjusted net loss of $114 million. The launch of BlackBerry 10 will see the company increase its marketing spending, and expects to still have an operating loss by the time the fourth quarter results are released.

Source: Electronista

Symbian OS

Is it necessary for Nokia to work on their UI before switching over to Windows Phone OS? Personally, I think it is a good idea to keep existing customer’s happy for the time being. But it might seem like a waste of time to working on the OS that is basically already dead, and not focus on switching over to the Windows Phone OS.