Android apps have leaked over 730TB of user data and Google secrets


A major security investigation has analyzed 1.8 million Android apps available on the Google Play Store, focusing on those that explicitly claim AI features, and identified worrying security flaws which may be exposing secrets.

From the initial research pool, Cybernews researchers identified 38,630 Android AI apps and examined their internal code for exposed credentials and cloud service references, finding widespread data handling failures that extended far beyond isolated developer mistakes. Overall, the researchers found nearly three-quarters (72%) of the analyzed Android AI apps contained at least one hardcoded secret embedded directly in application code – and on average, each affected app leaked 5.1 secrets.

Read more…
Source: TechRadar News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • T-Mobile confirms SIM swapping attacks led to breach

    December 30, 2021

    T-Mobile has confirmed a data breach that was caused in part by SIM swapping attacks, according to a statement from the company. The T-Mo Report, a blog tracking T-Mobile, obtained internal reports showing that some data was leaked from a subset of customers. Some individuals had their customer proprietary network information (CPNI) leaked, which includes information about ...

  • UK National Crime Agency finds 225 million previously unexposed passwords

    December 21, 2021

    The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and National Cyber Crime Unit have uncovered a colossal trove of stolen passwords. We know this because Troy Hunt, of Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) fame, yesterday announced the agency has handed them over to his service, which lets anyone conduct a secure search of stolen passwords to check if ...

  • Data from millions of Brazilians exposed in Wi-Fi management software firm leak

    November 22, 2021

    A Brazilian Wi-Fi management software firm exposed data of various high profile companies and millions of their customers. The data was leaked by WSpot, which provides software that enables businesses to secure their on-premise Wi-Fi networks and allow password-free online access to their customers. The leak was discovered by security research firm SafetyDetectives. The researchers found WSpot’s ...

  • Philippines gov takes down passport application website amid privacy leak fears

    November 11, 2021

    The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has disabled its online passport application tracker, citing a “data privacy issue” and hinting that information could have leaked. “The DFA’s IT Unit is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this issue and is taking appropriate measures to secure the data that may have been exposed,” states a notice on ...

  • Medical school exposes personal data of thousands of students

    November 3, 2021

    A US medical training school exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of thousands of students. On Wednesday, vpnMentor published a report on the security incident, in which an unsecured bucket was left exposed online. The server, which did not have authentication controls in place and was, therefore, accessible by anyone to view, contained 157GB of data, or ...

  • NHS Digital exposes hundreds of email addresses after BCC blunder copies in entire invite list to ‘Let’s talk cyber’ event

    October 20, 2021

    NHS Digital has scored a classic Mail All own-goal by dispatching not one, not two, not three, but four emails concerning an infosec breakfast briefing, each time copying the entirety of the invite list in on the messages. The first email sent yesterday morning thanked participants for “registering for NHS Digital’s Full Digital Breakfast: Let’s talk ...