Your phone might be hacked.
Hackers have easy access to the Android operating system which is used on 950 million phones worldwide, according to cybersecurity firm Zimperium.
A security flaw in the Android software could be letting hackers gain access and control of your mobile. All these unscrupulous people need to know is the number of the phone.
The design flaw lies with the ‘Hangouts’ app which automatically screens messages as they’re received and immediately saves videos and photos for later use.
This allows hackers to send corrupted videos that are saved to the device without the user doing a thing. This reportedly can give the hacker access to the phone and control over the operating system.
Speaking to NPR a security researcher at Zimperium said: “This happens even before the sound that you’ve received a message has even occurred. That’s what makes it so dangerous. [It] could be absolutely silent. You may not even see anything.”
According to the researcher, the hacker can wipe the memory, access information or even switch on the camera, but the vulnerability is not yet being exploited, apparently.
In the meantime Google are working to rectify the problem but will need each mobile device i.e Samsung, HTC, to implement the new software.
Hat-tip to i100
