Graham Cluley – Page 386 – WindowsTechs.com

Get FREE threat intelligence on hackers and exploits with the Recorded Future Cyber Daily

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Graham Cluley

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Graham Cluley Security News is sponsored this week by the folks at Recorded Future. Thanks to the great team there for their support!

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Top Targeted Industries: Companies targeted by cyber attacks, grouped by their industries.
Top Hackers: Organizations and people recognized as hackers by Recorded Future.
Top Exploited Vulnerabilities: Identified vulnerabilities with language indicating malcode activity. These language indicators range from security research (“reverse engineering,” “proof of concept”) to malicious exploitation (“exploited in the wild,” “weaponized”).
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Privacy warning over Pokémon Go app for iOS as it grabs full access to players’ Google accounts

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Graham Cluley

As if there weren’t enough headlines about malicious bogus Pokémon Go apps for Android, and thieves using the game ambush and rob unsuspecting players, privacy concerns have now been raised about the iOS edition of the app.

Adam Reeve found that players of the iOS version of Pokémon Go who signed into the app via Google, were unwittingly giving the Nintendo game – developed by Nantic – full access to their Google account:

Let me be clear – Pokemon Go and Niantic can now:

Read all your email

Send email as you

Access all your Google drive documents (including deleting them)

Look at your search history and your Maps navigation history

Access any private photos you may store in Google Photos

And a whole lot more

And they have no need to do this – when a developer sets up the “Sign in with Google” functionality they specify what level of access they want – best practices (and simple logic) dictate you ask for the minimum you actually need, which is usually just simple contact information.

Other players of Pokémon Go – including popular security tweeter @SwiftOnSecurity – confirmed that the app had grabbed full access to their Google accounts.

I like to imagine this is a cockup rather than a conspiracy, and that the game’s developers do not have any malicious intent, but this really doesn’t sound good at all.

Hopefully a new fixed version of the Pokémon Go app for iOS will be released sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, players may wish to revoke the game’s access to their Google account.

Continue reading Privacy warning over Pokémon Go app for iOS as it grabs full access to players’ Google accounts→

Android users warned of malicious Pokémon Go app

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Graham Cluley

Security researchers at Proofpoint have discovered a malicious Pokémon Go app that installs a backdoor on Android devices:

Proofpoint researchers discovered an infected Android version of the newly released mobile game Pokemon GO. This specific APK was modified to include the malicious remote access tool (RAT) called DroidJack (also known as SandroRAT), which would virtually give an attacker full control over a victim’s phone.

The malicious app hasn’t sneaked its way onto the official Google Play store, so any victims would need to install it from an unofficial third-party store.

Although Proofpoint says that it hasn’t seen any reports of the malicious app infecting users in the wild, the current mania for Pokémon Go (its international roll-out is apparently being “paused” while Nintendo wrestles with its overloaded servers) may mean that there are some avid gamers who could put themselves at risk.

The official Android Google Play store doesn’t have a spotless record when it comes to keeping malware out, but it certainly appears to do a better job than many of the unpoliced unofficial Android app stores out there.

If you’re an Android user and care about your security and privacy, only download apps from a legitimate store and always pay attention to the permissions they request.

Continue reading Android users warned of malicious Pokémon Go app→

Facebook Messenger gets opt-in end-to-end encryption with Secret Conversations

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Graham Cluley

Facebook has begun to roll out end-to-end encryption for users of Facebook Messenger, following in the footsteps of the likes of WhatsApp.
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
Continue reading Facebook Messenger gets opt-in end-to-end encryption with Secret Conversations→

Apple devices held for ransom, massive iCloud account hack rumours

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Graham Cluley

Steve Ragan of CSO Online:

“On July 1, Alanna Coca noticed her iPad had started beeping. When she opened the cover, the lock screen had a message displaying a phrase in Russian – “Dlya polucheniya parolya, napshite na email” – followed by a Gmail address.”

“Roughly translated, the phrase was telling her that in order to receive a password, she’ll need to email the address displayed.”

Such attacks aren’t unusual (you may remember a message from Russian hacker Oleg Pliss popping up on some users’ iMacs, iPhones and iPads back in 2014), and are perpetrated by a hacker putting a victim’s device into lost mode after breaking into their Apple ID account.

A message sent by the hacker to the locked device asks for the victim to get in touch to arrange the ransom payment, and may even make a veiled threat that the device’s data will be erased if cash is not transferred promptly.

What spices things up a little more this time is that Ragan reports rumours of a massive data breach at Apple potentially impacting 40 million iCloud accounts.

That may be nonsense, of course – it’s possible that accounts have fallen under the control of hackers because of less sensational reasons – such as poor password choices, phishing or reusing the same password on multiple sites.

What is clear is that some Apple users are having their devices hijacked by extortionists. So make sure that you have a unique, hard-to-crack, hard-to-guess password protecting your Apple ID account.

And, if you haven’t already done so, I strongly recommend enabling two-step verification on your Apple ID account to make it harder for hackers to break in.