phone

A bill to tackle unwanted "robocalls" looks likely to become law in the US. It would use a range of approaches to tackle misleading or annoying automated calls. Robocalls are automatically-dialed marketing (or scam) phone calls - the same calls made ... by Indian tech support scammers . Using computers to place the call greatly increases the number of homes a company (or scammer) can attempt to phone - and in turn the number of calls the average home is likely to receive. The House of Representatives has now passed the proposed Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and ... (view more)

Security researchers say a serious Android bug could let malware pose as a legitimate app and gain unwanted access to a phone's data and functions. The concept of the 'StrandHogg' bug has been known for several years, but now it's being actively ... exploited to target online banking. In simple terms, the bug has two unwanted effects: it can trick users into giving malware sensitive 'permissions' to access the phone, and it can hijack legitimate apps to trick users into handing over login details and sensitive information. Researchers at Promon explain the bug is with a security setting called ... (view more)

Google is fixing an Android bug that let hackers remotely capture videos and images without permission. The bug could also have revealed the user's precise location, making it particularly dangerous if exploited by stalkers. Security researchers at ... Checkmarx discovered the bug in several default camera apps on a variety of Android phones, including the Google and Samsung apps. (Source: arstechnica.com ) The bug could only be exploited once malware was on the phone, but even then it still shouldn't have allowed such an attack. That's because it involved using a rogue app on the phone to access ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Samuel D. writes: " Dear Dennis, Recently my Galaxy s6 phone notified me via the Google Play store icon that an update was available for BlueMail (which I use for emails). I updated BlueMail, but the Google Play icon still has a ... badge stating that there is one update available for BlueMail. It seems that the Google Play store badge won't go away . I've tried updating the app again but there is only the option to 'launch app' and no updates. I've tried rebooting the phone and yet the Google Play store icon is still showing updates . I've searched Google for ' Google Play ... (view more)

Malware creators are using new tactics to avoid their malicious Android apps being exposed. The scam involves hiding and even disguising apps as legitimate ones once they've been installed. Fake Apps Receive Fake Praise It's a twist on a ... well-established scam in which malware is distributed through apps that appear to perform a basic function such as reading QR codes, or turning the camera flash into a flashlight. Thanks to a host of bogus rave-reviews in the Google Play store, the only way to spot something is amiss is that the apps will ask for specific access permissions that are clearly ... (view more)

Researchers say they discovered eight security flaws in the way Android handles voice calls through the Internet. Unlike most such bugs which involve specific apps, these problems were with Android itself. The good news is that the researchers ... reported all of the bugs to Google while carrying out the project and most have now been fixed. However, it does raise concerns about the development and design of the system itself. (Source: github.io ) The researchers looked at the three latest Android versions (7, 8 and 9), specifically addressing the components that allow Voice Over Internet ... (view more)

Apple has promised to warn users when a software update could slow down their iPhone or decrease battery life. It follows concerns from a government agency. The effects of iOS updates on phone performance has long been a controversial topic for ... Apple. Critics accused it of deliberately limiting the performance of older phones to encourage users to upgrade to newly released handsets, with some even producing what they called "diagnostic evidence." Apple has always denied this accusation. It says reduced performance such as decreasing battery life may simply be the cumulative effect ... (view more)

Unwanted pre-installed software on Android devices often poses privacy and security risks according to a new study. That's because the so-called "bloatware" often by-passes Google's vetting process. One of the key selling points, or big drawbacks - ... depending on your perspective - of the Android operating system is that phone and tablet makers can customize their own devices, through the user interface and the apps that appear when a new device is first powered on. That's different from systems such as Apple, where both the hardware and software are controlled by the same company . The study ... (view more)

More than half of the world's population now has Internet access according to newly-published estimates. The figures also suggest there are more mobile phones than people worldwide. The estimates come from the International Telecommunications Union ... (a specialized agency of the United Nations), and the World Bank. (Source: itu.int ) While most of the figures relate to subscriptions, the overall Internet use number is for individual people. The estimate has 51.2 percent of people online as of the end of 2018, with dramatic growth in Internet access in Africa helping reach this milestone. ... (view more)

Apple wants to patent a technology that would make it harder for police to track people's location through their phone. The technology wouldn't make messages and calls secret, but rather make it harder to prove who owned the phone in question. The ... patent is for end-to-end encryption for the mobile subscriber identification number (MSNI). That's part of a longer number that also identifies the country and mobile network a phone is registered to What's important here is that the MSNI identifies the specific handset. Police could then force a mobile carrier to hand over the ... (view more)