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:

  • Exxon lobbyist investigated over hack-and-leak of environmentalist emails

    November 27, 2024

    The FBI has been investigating a longtime Exxon Mobil consultant over the contractor’s alleged role in a hack-and-leak operation that targeted hundreds of the oil company’s biggest critics, according to three people familiar with the matter. The operation involved mercenary hackers who successfully breached the email accounts of environmental activists and others, the sources told Reuters. ...

  • Ex-South Korean defence chief, officials accused of THAAD data leak to China

    November 20, 2024

    A former South Korean defence minister and three other senior officials who served in the previous Moon Jae-in administration have been accused of leaking intelligence on a US-built missile system to activists and China. The state auditor alleged that Jeong Kyeong-doo, ex-national security adviser Chung Eui-yong and two high-ranking officers passed information on the Terminal High ...

  • Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison

    November 12, 2024

    Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, has been jailed for 15 years for leaking classified documents about the war in Ukraine and other military secrets. A federal judge in Boston, United States, on Tuesday sentenced the 22-year-old after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of ...

  • Taiwan: Defense ministry confirms basic data leak

    October 21, 2024

    The Ministry of National Defense today confirmed a data leak of basic personal information about certain high-ranking officials in response to a report from Chinese-language media, but said it did not include any information about personal asset holdings. The China Times this morning published a report saying that personal data of people ranked colonel and above ...

  • U.S. Investigating Intelligence Leak About Israel’s Plans for Attacking Iran

    October 20, 2024

    The U.S. is investigating the leak of top-secret American documents that show Israel military preparations for an expected strike on Iran, U.S. officials said Sunday. The two leaked reports were prepared last week by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes imagery gathered by American reconnaissance satellites and other intelligence. Neither document indicates Israel’s potential targets, and ...

  • Greek police data leak exposes details of elite crime-fighting unit members

    October 18, 2024

    A Greek police officers association says it is planning legal action after names and details of hundreds of officers from a new elite crime-fighting agency were published on the internet. The Directorate for Combating Organised Crime, DAOE, was launched Thursday to tackle organized crime activities including contract killings, fuel smuggling and money laundering. Police officials confirmed ...