Tag: protect | SpinSafe

Android 15 could feature extra security to protect users from shady sideloaded apps

April 25, 2024/in Mobile Security

We’ve been hearing a lot about Android 15 recently, and Google has confirmed that there’s an emphasis on privacy and security in this version of the mobile operating system. Part of that may include extra security features when side loading and installing apps from places other than the Google Play Store.

According to Mishaal Rahman at Android Authority, Android now contains code hinting at something called “Enhanced Confirmation Mode”. While the feature itself isn’t included in the Android 15 beta just yet, it seems it’s designed to improve security surrounding app installation settings and expand upon Android 13’s Restricted Settings feature.

Restricted Settings was designed to limit the capabilities of apps users installed from anywhere other than Google Play. Specifically this stops users from being able to enable Accessibility or Notification Listener services for sideloaded apps — which helps improve data security when the source is unknown.

Enhanced Confirmation Mode will work in tandem with Restricted Settings to deny sideloaded apps access to sensitive data — in case that they come from a malicious source. Specifically it’s designed to prevent misuse of a session-based installation API, which exploits the system Android uses to determine whether an app came from Google Play or not.

Specifically it’s designed to prevent misuse of a session-based installation API, which exploits the system Android uses to determine whether an app came from Google Play or not.

It does this by checking an allowlist in the system settings, checking for an XML file that’s loaded into the factory image. Without this the app won’t be able to bypass these security restrictions and access services like Accessibility or Notification Listener. Any attempts to try will see a specific ECM dialog explaining that these permissions are not available.

However it’s unclear whether there will be an option to exempt certain apps with ECM, as is the case with Restricted Settings. It’s also unclear if well known third party app stores, like Amazon’s, will be exempt from these restrictions.

The ability to sideload on Android is a fantastic one, though it does come with plenty of risks. So…

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Scientists install encryption shield to protect advanced Chinese quantum computer from attack

April 12, 2024/in Computer Security

The new methods are to replace the conventional public-key cryptography system, which could be vulnerable in the face of quantum computers with powerful computing capabilities.

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China denies accusations of state-sponsored hacking from US, UK and New Zealand

The report quoted Dou Menghan, deputy director of the Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Centre, as saying the “anti-quantum attack shield” was developed and used for the first time by Origin Quantum, the developer of the computer named after the Monkey King of Chinese mythology.

“This shows that China’s home-grown superconducting quantum computer can play both offence and defence in the field of quantum computing,” he said.

“This is also an important exploration of the application of new data security technologies in China.”

Origin launched its first superconducting quantum computer in 2020. The next year, the company delivered the 24-qubit Wuyuan second-generation machine – the country’s first practical quantum computer – making China the third country capable of delivering a complete quantum computing system after Canada and the United States.

The third-generation Wukong is powered by a 72-qubit home-grown superconducting quantum chip, also known as the Wukong chip.

In January, the superfast computer opened remote access to the world, attracting global users from countries such as the US, Bulgaria, Singapore, Japan, Russia and Canada to perform quantum computing tasks.

In traditional computing, a bit is the basic unit of information that represents either zero or one. A quantum bit, or qubit, takes it a step further by being able to represent zero, one, or both simultaneously.

Lawmaker urges China to safeguard tech production chain for a quantum edge

Because quantum computers can simultaneously represent multiple possibilities, they hold theoretical potential for significantly faster and more powerful computation compared to the everyday computers we use now.

But the subatomic particles central to this technology are fragile, short-lived and prone to errors if exposed to minor disturbances from the surroundings. Most…

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Intel agencies issue guidance to protect against Russian botnet

March 19, 2024/in Internet Security

U.S. and international authorities on Tuesday urged owners of routers used in a Russian botnet operation to ensure the devices cannot still be exploited by malicious actors.

The additional warning came a week after a coordinated international action by the FBI and others disrupted a Russian GRU-led hacking campaign that infiltrated more than a thousand home and small business routers that were used to carry out cyber espionage around the globe.

Dubbed Operation Dying Ember, it was first announced by FBI Director Christopher Wray in remarks at the Munich Security Conference.

LISTEN: FBI Director Chris Wray sat down for a rare interview with the Click Here podcast to talk about Operation Dying Ember.

It marked the latest effort by U.S. law enforcement, led by the bureau and the Justice Department, to combat digital criminal groups — including a similar action earlier this month that knocked off Chinese government-sponsored hackers from hundreds of home and small business routers that were allegedly used to target American infrastructure networks.

“With these operations, and many more like them, we’ve set our sights on all the elements that we know from experience make criminal organizations tick,” Wray said in Munich. “Because we don’t just want to hit them: we want to hit them everywhere it hurts and put them down hard.”

Despite last week’s apparent success against the so-called “Moobot” botnet that infected routers, “owners of relevant devices should” take steps to “ensure the long-term success of the disruption effort and to identify and remediate any similar compromises,” authorities cautioned.

In particular, they recommended owners conduct a hardware reset to “flush file systems of malicious” content; upgrade to the latest firmware; change default usernames and passwords; and enact firewall protections in order to “prevent the unwanted exposure of remote management services.”

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