hijack

Google has warned users of some Android handsets to turn off some voice call features. A series of vulnerabilities could mean attackers can compromise a handset just by knowing its phone number. The problem involves four vulnerabilities in a ... Samsung-made component called an Exynos chipset. It's used for voice calls made over mobile data rather than the voice network. At the time of writing, Google says the affected products include phones made by Samsung (A04, A12, A13, A21s, A33, A53, A71, M12, M13, M33, S22), Google itself (Pixel 6 and 7) and Vivo (S6, S15, S16, X30, X60, X70) along with ... (view more)

Security researchers have warned of 56 infected Android apps that could compromise performance. They've been deleted from the Google Play Store, but could still be on users' phones and tablets. According to Check Point, the apps contain malware ... designed to hijack phones and simulate user actions to click on ads. That could run down batteries and eat into mobile data allowances. (Source: checkpoint.com ) The 56 apps include 24 supposedly aimed at children, and 32 which offer simple utilities. They all work as designed: the problem is what's happening in the background. (Source: express.co.uk ... (view more)

At least eight apps in the official Microsoft Store were secretly designed to use a computer's resources without permission. It undermines Microsoft's efforts to promote the store as a "safe source of software." In the past few years, Microsoft has ... heavily pushed the idea of Windows users getting software from an app store - similar to the way mobile devices work - rather than the more traditional method of getting programs from a third-party sources and installing them directly to the PC or smartphone / tablet. There's even a special 'S' mode for Windows 10 that only allows the ... (view more)

Google Chrome users have been surprised to discover that the Chrome browser scans their computers in search of malware. It doesn't appear to be a reason to panic, but arguably Google could have been more up front about it. The scans were spotted by ... Kelly Shortidge who works at a cyber security company. She noticed that the chrome.exe executable file (which is visible in Windows Task Manager) was scanning files in her Windows documents folder. On further investigation, she discovered Chrome has been doing this since around October, 2017. The scans are being done through Chrome Cleanup, a tool ... (view more)

Chrome browser users should see fewer cases of web pages unexpectedly being replaced by ads and other annoyances with some upcoming updates. The changes aim to tackle unwanted content appearing in three ways. The first change deals with the problem ... of the page the user wants to visit suddenly being replaced by another page, usually advertising and often with no clear way of going back to the desired content. This is usually caused by rogue content in code on third-party ads that are meant to appear besides the content on the original web page. Auto-Redirection Won't Work Once Chrome gets the ... (view more)