THISISSUE’SEXPERT:
VladimirKuskov,
securityexpertat
Kaspersky
(www.kaspersky.co.uk)12 13 - 26 November 2019 Email us your security questions at [email protected]
Q
Howworried
shouldwebe
abouttherise
of‘stalkerware’(bit.ly/
stalker488)?
PeterHendricks,TwitterA
So-called
stalkerware apps
make it possible to
intrude on your private life.
By using them, an abuser
can access their victim’sTrojanmalwarefound
in 17iOSapps
Applehas
removed 17
malicious
appsfromits
AppStore
andadvised
iPhoneand
iPadusersto
uninstallthemimmediately.Theapps
werediscoveredbymobilesecurity
companyWandera,whichfound
themtocontaina formofTrojan
called‘clickware’.Thisis designedto
openwebpagesandclickadsin the
backgroundwithouttheuser’s
knowledge.
The 17 appsspana varietyof
categoriesincludingvideo,fitness
andtravel,andwerealldevelopedby
AppAspectTechnologiesPvt.Ltd,
a companybasedin India.They
receivecommandsfroma control
servertosurreptitiouslyloadadverts,messages,photos,social
media, geolocation and audio
or camera recordings (in
some cases, this can be done
in real time).
Unlike legitimate parental-
control tools, stalkerware
apps run hidden in the
background, without a
victim’s knowledge or
consent. They are often
promoted as software for
spying on a partner and may
need to be installed manually
on the victim’s phone, so the
abuser needs physical access
to the device.
At Kaspersky, we have
in the last few months
increased the ability of
our products to detect
stalkerware, and will continueto do so as we support the
fight against stalkers.
To avoid being monitored
by stalkers, Kaspersky
recommends:- Blocking the installation^
of programs from unknown
sources in your smartphone’s
settings - Never disclosing the
password or passcode to
your mobile device, even to
someone you trust - Never storing unfamiliar
files or applications on your
device, as they could harm
your privacy- Changing all security
settings on your mobile
device if you are leaving
a relationship - Checking the list of
applications on the device
to find out if suspicious
programs were installed
without your consent - Using a reliable security
solution, such as Kaspersky
Internet Security, to detect
spyware programs aimed
at invading your privacy on
your phone.
News about the latest threats and advice from securityexperts
Stay Safe Online
SECURITY ALERT! | What’s been bothering us this fortnight
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open websites and even change device
settings to subscribe users to expensive
services.
“Clicker Trojan is a well understood
class of malware that performs ad fraud
by making frequent connections to
ad networks or websites in order to
artificially inflate visitor counts or to
generate revenue on a pay-per-click
basis,” said Wandera.
The full list of infected apps can be
found at the link below.
bit.ly/clickwareNordVPN hit by security
breach
NordVPN has
admitted that it
was hacked in
March 2018. The
VPN service said
that an expired
internal private
key – a tool that provides and secures
machine identity – became exposed,allowing the attacker to set up
insecure NordVPN imitation servers.
By exploiting a remote management
system, the hacker managed to gain
access to one of NordVPN’s servers,
which had only been active for about
a month. This server gave the hacker
access to some of the encryption keys
that secure NordVPN user data.
The company said that: “No user
credentials have been intercepted.
No other server on our network has
been affected. The affected server
does not exist anymore and the
contract with the server provider has
been terminated.”
While the breach occurred more
than a year ago, NordVPN only
discovered it “a few months ago”,
and did not reveal its existence until
recently due to security concerns. In
the wake of the breach, NordVPN said
it is “taking all the necessary means
to enhance [its] security”.
bit.ly/nordvpnStalkerware apps run hidden^
in the background, without a victim’s
knowledge or consent