New Android API Lets Developers Push Updates Within their Apps

You might have read somewhere online today that Google is granting Android app developers powers to forcefully install app updates…but it is not true. Instead, the tech giant is providing a new feature that will help users to have up-to-date Android apps all the time and yes, it's optional. Along...

Bevy of Android Apps Harbor Hidden Malicious Windows Executables

Researchers have found up to 145 Android apps on the Google Play store infected by malicious Microsoft Windows executable files capable of planting key-loggers on Windows systems. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 said Monday that they suspect that the Android app developers involved wer...

EU Cybersecurity Act IoT FAIL

The EU recently announced that its plans for a Cybersecurity Act had been backed by industry committee MEPs. This was a significant opportunity for consumer IoT security to be regulated and resolve the current mess. Sadly, they’ve stopped short and made the code voluntary for all but certain...

EU Fines Google Record $5 Billion in Android Antitrust Case

Google has been hit by a record-breaking $5 billion antitrust fine by the European Union regulators for abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating system and thwarting competitors. That's the largest ever antitrust penalty. Though Android is an open-source and free operating system,...

Facebook Admits Sharing Users' Data With 61 Tech Companies

Facebook has admitted that the company gave dozens of tech companies and app developers special access to its users' data after publicly saying it had restricted outside companies to access such data back in 2015. It's an unusual clear view of how the largest social networking site manages your...

Bug Bounty Programs Turn Attention to Data Abuse

More companies – particularly social media firms – may follow Facebook’s footsteps in turning to bug bounty programs to scout out any data privacy abuse on their platforms, experts say. On the heels of Facebook’s Cambridge-Analytica scandal in March, the social media giant launched a “Data Abuse...

A week in security (June 11 – June 17)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we discussed how to protect the online privacy of children, we gave you a spring 2018 overview of exploit kits, rounded up the ongoing discussions about the VPNFilter malware, and discussed the struggles of UK law enforcement with modern-day cybercrime. Other news...

Apple will let users run iOS apps on macOS

Apple is making it easier for mobile developers to port their iOS apps to the next-generation macOS Mojave desktop platform—a major step in bringing the two platforms closer together. However, at the same time, the company straightforward denied the idea of merging the iPhone and Mac operating...

Calls For Regulation Build After Facebook Privacy Fallout

As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress this week, politicians stressed the need for regulation to secure end users’ data privacy on social media platforms. The series of hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday gave members of Congress an opportunity to question Facebook about multiple...

Facebook Offering $40,000 Bounty If You Find Evidence Of Data Leaks

Facebook pays millions of dollars every year to researchers and bug hunters to stamp out security holes in its products and infrastructure, but following Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company today launched a bounty program to reward users for reporting "data abuse" on its platform. The move...

Facebook Data Privacy Policies Bashed By Critics After Cambridge Analytica Incident

Facebook is in hot water after acknowledging that a consulting group – that has worked on several high profile political campaigns, including that of President Donald Trump’s – used the social media company’s platform to harvest the data of 50 million users. The company last week said that in 201...

Google Begins Removing Play Store Apps Misusing Android Accessibility Services

Due to rise in malware and adware abusing Android accessibility services, Google has finally decided to take strict steps against the apps on its app platform that misuse this feature. Google has emailed Android app developers informing them that within 30 days, they must show how accessibility...

Google Play Store Launches Bug Bounty Program to Protect Popular Android Apps

Better late than never. Google has finally launched a bug bounty program for Android apps on Google Play Store, inviting security researchers to find and report vulnerabilities in some of the most popular Android apps. Dubbed "Google Play Security Reward," the bug bounty program offers security...

Yet more mobile adware found in Google Play

Finding an adware variant that made its way past the Google Play store is out of the ordinary. So when two adware variants slip by in one week, we take notice. Last week, we added two new Ad SDKs to our growing list of adware detections—Adware.Solid and Adware.Cootek. Both Ad SDKs were found in a...

Google Changes How it Analyzes Misbehaving Mobile Apps

Mobile apps in the Google Play store are categorized by their purpose, i.e., productivity or games. But there is a science to how apps are arranged, in particular around security and privacy features, and especially in holding back those apps whose behaviors pose a risk to mobile users. Google on...

iOS WebView auto-dial vulnerability-vulnerability warning-the black bar safety net

Vulnerability overview Security research experts found that iOS WebViews Assembly in the presence of the vulnerability, an attacker or may exploit this vulnerability to control the target phone to automatically dial a number you can control. In this attack scenario, the attacker can in a short...

Google Updates CA Trust Mechanisms in Android Nougat

Google last week announced changes in the way it will handle trusted Certificate Authorities in Nougat, the latest version of the Android operating system. The changes are expected to cut into the likelihood of a successful man-in-the-middle attack, or a device falling victim to an...

Google Stresses Transparency in New Chrome Web Store Policies

Google last week put app developers on notice, urging them to comply with a new set of privacy policies that it plans on enforcing starting this summer designed to better promote transparency. The rules reflect an update to Google’s User Data Policy for the Chrome Web Store. The company has porte...

Twitter Launches Digits – A Password Free Login Service For App Developers

There’s a good news for app developers. On Wednesday at Twitter’s first annual developer conference Flight, the company announced a new tool for developers which will allow users to log-in to mobile applications using their phone numbers rather than a traditional username and password combination...

PlayDrone Reveals Secret Keys from Thousands of Play Store Android Apps

Google's Android Mobile operating system for smartphones and tablets have Google's own Play Store that provides its Android users the most visible way to access the world of millions of apps. App developers produce more than thousands of applications each year, but majority of newbie and...