Naked Security: Thousands of Android-spying apps in the wild: what to do about SonicSpy
Monday, August 14, 2017 at 3:31PM
Bob Appleby in Android, Cyber Security, NakedSecurity, Security, Sophos

By Bill Brenner, nakedsecurity.sophos.com

Well we always knew that Android was a security nightmare but SophosLabs has found three cases of SonicSpy-infused apps in Google Play:

Researchers from SophosLabs and elsewhere have found three cases of SonicSpy-infused apps in Google Play: Soniac, Hulk Messenger, and Troy Chat – messaging apps that hide their spying functionality and await orders from command-and-control servers.

Google booted the apps from its store after they were discovered. Researcher Chen Yu said the Google Play versions had “tiny installation numbers and existed for a very short time”. Though three were found on Google Play, SophosLabs has counted 3,240 SonicSpy apps in the wild. Some reports place the number at 4,000.

According to multiple reports, a single bad actor – probably based in Iraq – has released these apps into the wild since February.

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Article originally appeared on Bobs Tech Talk News and Reviews (http://www.bobstechtalk.com/).
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