Attention Android users! Over 20 Android Apps Infected With PhoneSpy Spyware, Here’s How To Stay Safe

New Delhi: A new spyware can target your Android phone and try to steal your personal information, according to researchers. PhoneSpy is a new spyware campaign that is now catching up with most Android users in South Korea, but it will only be a matter of time before it spreads overseas. According to the researchers, this spyware does not exploit existing vulnerabilities of a device, but acts as a legitimate program, such as a yoga teaching app or a movie streaming app.

According to analysts at mobile security startup Zimperium, PhoneSpy’s biggest risk to your Android phone is secretly uninstalling mobile security software. PhoneSpy has been detected among 23 apps which seem to be harmless and authentic just like any other reputable Android app. However, it is capable of doing far more damage than simply stealing the identity of Android apps. PhoneSpy, according to the researchers, can gain access to the phone’s camera and use it to take images and record movies in real time without the user’s awareness. These images and videos can be used for personal or commercial blackmail, but they can also be used for cyber-espionage.

This is bad enough, but users can be on the lookout for some strange behaviors when they accidentally download PhoneSpy-infected programs. Excessive on-device permissions are requested by these apps, which should raise a red flag for you. However, if you fail to notice this and give these apps the permissions they want, PhoneSpy will be able to control and hide itself from your phone’s app menu while tracking you in the background. Zimperium’s Richard Melick told TechCrunch that users can’t prevent PhoneSpy from being stolen because the apps can’t access the menus.

According to reports, PhoneSpy is still missing from the Google Play Store. It was also not available in other Android app stores. However, experts claim that spyware is spreading to phones through tactics like web traffic redirection or social engineering. Simply put, these are a number of tactics used by attackers to entice consumers to perform specific behaviors in exchange for a reward, but the victim downloads the fraudulent program. There is also a good chance that victims will disclose personal and confidential information when performing these actions.

According to Zimperium, the number of victims is currently 1,000, but they are all in South Korea. But who knows when it will expand and claim more unsuspecting Android users? PhoneSpy is difficult to track as it belongs to the category of malware that masquerades as legal programs. It also resembles previously identified spyware and stalkware programs, which researchers believe may be a means for attackers to compile and mix functionalities that differ from other programs. Using off-the-shelf programming makes it easy to hide the identity of spyware.

Although Zimperium claims to have alerted authorities in South Korea and the United States, the spyware is active and expanding rapidly. So, if you don’t want your data to be taken for whatever reason, stay away from suspicious apps.

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