Zak is a widely recognized expert on surveillance, cyber and the security and privacy risks with AI, big tech, social media and smartphones. He is regularly cited in the media, with appearances on BBC, Sky, NPR, NBC, Channel 4, TF1, ITV and Fox. Zak has 25-years real-world experience in AI, cyber and surveillance.
Have you updated the software on your Samsung, Pixel or Xiaomi phone recently? If not, you might want to look away now. The cyber team athas just issued a new report warning just how big a risk you’re taking and urging you to update.
Some of those threats are clearly more dangerous than others. “Rafel possesses all the essential features required to execute extortion schemes effectively,” Check Point says. “When malware obtains Device Admin privileges, it can alter the lock-screen password prevent the malware’s uninstallation. If a user attempts to revoke admin privileges from the application, it promptly changes the password and locks the screen, thwarting any attempts to intervene.
The team caught the Rafel RAT conducting remote surveillance, data exfiltration and ransomware, with victims “tricked” into downloading apps from outside Google’s Play Store ecosystem, apps that impersonate popular social media services, including some of the biggest, best known brands. Put at its simplest, sideloading apps onto a phone running an outdated version of Android is like playing Russian Roulette with multiple bullets in the gun—your chances of coming unstuck are dangerously high.
One of Android’s main differentiations to iPhone has always been this flexibility to sideload apps from third-party stores and the web. And restricting those freedoms will not land well. But this remains the most likely source of malware infections.Given this, it’s no surprise that Google is making it ever harder for a bad actor to trick users into installing dangerous apps.
Samsung S25 Upgrade Pixel 9 Upgrade Android 14 Update Android 15 Upgrade Samsung Update Warning Pixel Update Warning Xiaomi Update Warning Android Vs Iphone Google Vs Apple
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