Your Android Phone Could be Hacked by a Single Text Message, Electronics & Gadgets : Today Indya

Your Android Phone Could be Hacked by a Single Text Message

Electronics & Gadgets

asianage

That makes it more than a billion Android phones globally, including those made by Samsung and Huawei, which are at the risk of being hacked by text messages.

Your Android Phone Could be Hacked by a Single Text Message

As it turns out, you should be wary of the text messages that land up in the inbox in your Android phone. A major security vulnerability in the Android operating system has left a billion phones vulnerable to getting hacked, by a plain and simple text message. Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has revealed that there is “a security flaw in Samsung, Huawei, LG, Sony and other Android-based phones that leaves users vulnerable to advanced phishing attacks.”

The security firm says that the hack works by making use of the over the air (OTA) method that mobile network operators use to update new phones joining their network, also known as an OMA CP message. Researchers say that this method involves limited authentication methods. Therefore, hackers or someone working remotely can exploit this route to pose as a network operator that you have just connected to and send a deceptive OMA CP message to Android phones. The message can then trick users into accepting malicious settings that would start to route the phone’s incoming and outgoing Internet traffic through a proxy server owned by the hacker. The Android phone user would not realize what is happening, and the data in the phone can be accessed by the hacker.

“Researchers determined that certain Samsung phones are the most vulnerable to this form of phishing attack because they do not have an authenticity check for senders of OMA CP messages. The user only needs to accept the CP and the malicious software will be installed without the sender needing to prove their identity,” says Check Point Research.

The research also says that phones made by Huawei, LG, and Sony do have a form of authentication, but hackers only need the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the recipient’s phone to ‘confirm’ their identity. And it is not difficult for attackers to get their hands on a phone’s IMSI details—this can be done by creating a rogue Android app that reads a phone’s IMSI once it is installed or the attacker can simply bypass the need for an IMSI by sending the user a text message posing as the network operator and asking them to accept a pin-protected OMA CP message. If the user then enters the provided PIN number and accepts the OMA CP message, the CP can be installed without an IMSI.

“Given the popularity of Android devices, this is a critical vulnerability that must be addressed,” said Slava Makkaveev, Security Researcher at Check Point Software Technologies. Researchers say Samsung included a fix addressing this phishing flow in their Security Maintenance Release for May (SVE-2019-14073), LG released their fix in July (LVE-SMP-190006), and Huawei is planning to include UI fixes for OMA CP in the next generation of Mate series or P series smartphones. Sony refused to acknowledge the vulnerability, stating that their devices follow the OMA CP specification.

Article Original Source : https://www.news18.com/news/tech/apple-music-arrives-on-web-browsers-you-do...

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Samsung officially relaunches the Galaxy Fold with improved design and construction

Electronics & Gadgets

gsmarena

Samsung announced the Galaxy Fold earlier this year, then realized the product was not consumer-ready, redesigned it, and now it is officially on the market again. The new phone comes with “improved design and construction”, but Samsung also “took the time to rethink the entire consumer journey” which includes 5G-ready devices and 24/7 one-on-one access to Samsung support.

While the overall design of the Galaxy Fold remains unchanged from the original version - 7.3” Infinity Flex Display and a 4.6” Super AMOLED panel on the outside, Samsung finally fixed the hinge and the protective layer of the flexible screen.

To protect it from dust and other particles getting in the mechanism through the foldable part, it is now hidden behind a rubbery protection. In addition, the layer on top that protects the digitizer from scratches now goes beyond the edges, so you can’t accidentally peel it.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold has a total of six cameras, and the manufacturer kept them unchanged since everything was fine with them - in our initial review they were on par with the setup on the Galaxy S10+ flagship. The hardware is still the same - Snapdragon 855, coupled with 12 GB RAM and 512 gigs of storage.

The battery was initially introduced with a 4,380 mAh capacity, but the 5G model has slightly less, due to the internal architecture - it is just 4,235 mAh. Samsung boasts it has two cells on the inside, and our tests reached 90 hours of endurance rating, which is pretty similar to the company’s current flagships like Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy Note10.

The Galaxy Fold will arrive in South Korea tomorrow and will be followed by select countries, including France, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The official press release says nothing about the price, but we expect it will remain €2,000. If you think that is too much, check our quick analysis of what else can you get for this amount of money.

Article Original Source : https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_officially_launches_the_galaxy_fold_this_t...