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:

  • Bug in jury systems used by several US states exposed sensitive personal data

    November 26, 2025

    Several public websites designed to allow courts across the United States and Canada to manage the personal information of potential jurors had a simple security flaw that easily exposed their sensitive data, including names and home addresses, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. A security researcher, who asked not to be named for this story, contacted TechCrunch with ...

  • EY exposes 4TB+ SQL database to open internet for who knows how long

    October 29, 2025

    A Dutch cybersecurity outfit says its lead researcher recently stumbled upon a 4TB+ SQL Server backup file belonging to EY exposed to the web, effectively leaking the accounting and consulting megacorp’s secrets. Among the BAK file’s data were API keys, cached authentication tokens, session tokens, service account passwords, and user credentials, Neo Security’s writeup explained. Read more… Source: ...

  • Satellites found exposing unencrypted data, including phone calls and some military comms

    October 14, 2025

    Security researchers have discovered that as many as half of all geostationary satellites in Earth’s orbit are carrying unencrypted sensitive consumer, corporate, and military information, making this data wide open to eavesdropping. The researchers at UC San Diego and the University of Maryland spent $800 on an off-the-shelf satellite receiver and pointed it at the sky ...

  • Security researcher maps hundreds of TeslaMate servers spilling Tesla vehicle data

    August 26, 2025

    A security researcher has found over a thousand publicly exposed hobby servers run by Tesla vehicle owners that are spilling sensitive data about their vehicles, including their granular location histories. Seyfullah Kiliç, founder of cybersecurity company SwordSec, said he found over 1,300 internet-exposed TeslaMate dashboards on the internet, likely made public by mistake, allowing anyone to ...

  • British spies and SAS named in Afghan data breach

    July 17, 2025

    The identities of more than 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6, were compromised in a data breach that also put thousands of Afghans at risk of reprisal, it can be reported. The latest fallout from the breach was kept secret by an injunction until Thursday, when the order was lifted in ...

  • Payout offered to Afghans hit by UK data breaches

    July 4, 2025

    Afghan nationals whose personal information was mistakenly exposed by the Ministry of Defence in 2021 will be offered up to £4,000 each in compensation, the government has said. The data breaches affected 277 people, some of whom had worked for the UK government and were in hiding from insurgent Taliban forces at the time. Defence Minister ...