Apple will reportedly introduce a new privacy update for the iPhone that will prevent installed iOS apps from seeing which other apps have been downloaded to the device.
The post New iPhone update blocks apps from seeing other apps you’ve installed appeared first on We Live Security.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off June 8 at San Francisco’s Moscone West.
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, where mobile developers from far and wide came together to learn about the future of iOS and OS X systems. Along with being the first time I was able to participate in this sought-after conference, it was also my first time visiting San Francisco.
Once you get past its glitz and the glamour, the majority of the event revolves around waiting in a series of queues — the day before the actual event began, the line for the event’s keynote lectures had formed around an entire city block. Although I wasn’t one of the first people to camp out there, I did arrive around 5:30 a.m. on Monday to stake out my spot. While the masses of people at WWDC can be a bit overwhelming, there really isn’t a better place to meet thousands of like-minded developers with whom one can strike up an interesting conversation discussing the ins and outs of of iOS development.
This year, Apple hosted 5,000 developers from 70 different countries, the vast majority of whom were present at WWDC for the first time. The WWDC Scholarship Program awarded 350 scholarships to recipients, the youngest of whom was Kiera Cawley, a 12-year-old app developer who has been coding since the age of nine. Apple CEO Tim Cook made a guest appearance at the conference’s special orientation session, mingling with the recipients and even taking selfies with some of them.
WWDC 2015
OS X EL CAPITAN — what a name! At first, I thought it had to be another joke from Craig Federighi, but I was wrong. A noteworthy new feature in El Capitan is the split view mode, which allows us to work on two apps simultaneously. Apple claims that there has been a 1.4x time increase in app launch times and 2x improvement in app switching speeds. In general, Apple has been quite busy and has made huge improvements for developers. The most exciting news is that Apple will be making Swift open source later this year — a big step forward for the developer community.
The recent release of iOS 9 makes the entire system smarter and more secure. Now, users can run two apps at once on an iPad, side by side in split view (the same feature present in OS X). This will be challenging for developers who still don’t prefer Auto Layout. For the rest of us, though, it works quite well. It’s also possible to make activities and documents within your app searchable using Spotlight or to include special links on your site that launch your app at a specific view. And yes, it’s still necessary to support iPhone 4s on iOS 9. However, it should be more optimized now more than ever before.
Jennifer Bailey announced release of Apple Pay in the UK next month. This was a bad piece of news for the developer sitting right next to me. He was working as a freelancer for a company that provides mobile payments in the UK via iOS. “My company is screwed and I should start looking for a new job,” he said in response to Bailey’s announcement. Apple Pay’s imminent launch is, unfortunately, not the best update for people whose jobs revolve around mobile payments.
During the rest of the week, Apple featured 100 sessions and labs, and over 1000 Apple engineers were present and ready to give me advice. UI Design Lab was the most popular workshop at the conference, and you could count on the fact that there’d be a huge line every day. After trying to get into the session every morning, I was finally able to make an appointment on Friday. In the end, it was worth the wait. 
All in all, WWDC was a great opportunity to meet an impressive collection of talented developers and to discuss the vast amount of progress Apple has been making within the mobile sphere. See you next year, Apple!
Not all apps are worth your time and money. We Live Security looks at five signs the app you’re about to download could be risky, and worth investigating further.
The post 5 signs that an app could be risky appeared first on We Live Security.
The Avast bi weekly wrap-up is a quick summary of what was on the Avast blog for the last two weeks.
Most everyone knows their PC needs antivirus protection, but they don’t think about their smartphone. These days smartphones are just about as powerful and have as much or more personal information as our desktop PC at home. We answer the question do Android devices really need protection?
The answer is a resounding YES. The Avast Virus Lab gives us an example from a trusted download source, Google Play: A porn clicker app slipped into Google Play imitating the popular Dubsmash app. If we cannot completely rely on trusted app stores to weed out nasty apps, then it’s time to add an extra layer of security.
Once you decide that you do want to protect your Android device, you can be confident in Avast Mobile Security, Avast’s free security app available on Google Play. A survey by AV -Comparatives said that Avast was the #1 choice for mobile security in the entire world. No need to wait any longer to protect your smartphone or tablet.
One of the challenges with using a smartphone for so many activities, is that the battery gives out before we do. Our new free app Avast Battery Saver raises the bar with new Wi-Fi based smart profiles that can increase battery life by an average of 7 hours.
Avast Battery Saver has only been available for a month or so but already 200,000 customers have downloaded it from the Google Play Store. For Earth Day we highlighted battery saver users for their positive impact on the environment. Who knew that Avast Battery Saver would be so green? A cool infographic shows just how much they saved – not only from their own battery – but in energy costs too. Now Earth Day can be everyday!
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) run the risk of data breaches just like there Enterprise cousins. Luke Walling, the General Manager of Avast for Business, explains that the biggest threat to SMBs is not actually hackers sitting somewhere far away. The biggest threat to your SMB could be sitting in your office!
Speaking of Avast for Business, our new disruptive free security offering for SMBs has 75,000 new customers in just 2 months. If you have a start-up, a small business, if you work in a school or non-profit organization, then it’s time to stop paying for security protection.
Our researchers are constantly surprised by the creativity of malware authors. Recently, they found a new way cybercrooks trick people in giving up their banking information. It’s a crafty combination of spam email, social engineering, and a macro code embedded in an innocent looking Word document.
Most people have security protection on their computers. That’s great when there are things like the banking malware we wrote about. With all that great protection why is it that they don’t trust the warnings? The Avast Virus Lab explored why some people would rather be right than believe a malware warning.
Security expert Troy Hunt took a look at three apps (one of them being the Paypal one) and the results are shocking: While they were all way too invasive most of the tested apps had serious security issues as well.
When it comes to your privacy especially Paypal seems to want far more information from you than necessary. Hunt took the time to point out the extra personal requests on his blog:
In addition to that the security of two of the tested apps was so bad that he concluded: “Perhaps I should just stick to the browser that doesn’t leak this class of data yet one would assume is still sufficiently secure.”
Do you want to find out more? Then take a look at the whole in-depth article.
The post Mobile apps: The privacy insanity appeared first on Avira Blog.
Install Avast Battery Saver on your Android device for free from Google Play!
Avast Battery Saver quickly and easily helps you to save your Android’s battery life
Mobile devices are currently evolving at an exceptional rate. Processor speed, display quality and connectivity options have changed dramatically over the past few years. However, battery capacity still seems to be struggling to keep up with the evolving capacity needed to power the enormous amount of new processors and displays.
According to a recent survey answered by 20, 000 people, 60% of Android owners are not satisfied with their device’s battery life.
There are a huge amount of Android applications trying to solve that problem, yet most of them fail to do so. When examining the features available on these apps, it becomes easy to see why many of them haven’t achieved complete success.
Task-killing
Task-killing is the most popular feature available not only within many battery saving apps, but also within cleaners and phone boosters. It most likely originated in Windows’ desktop operating system. Since users had first become accustomed to closing programs on Windows when their PCs began to slow down, this behavior transferred over to mobile devices when the users began to use Android.
However, Android’s system works differently. Android aims to keep RAM full in order to switch between applications more quickly. If there is no free RAM left, Android kills less recent applications. Thus, there is no need for the user to shut down the apps manually. Furthermore, task-killing actually slows down devices because each time an app is shut down, its data must be loaded to RAM again.
Try it yourself
Here’s a small test that you can try: install a task-killer, RAM booster or battery saving app that “cleans” RAM. Click the main button (it’s usually called “Optimize” or “Boost”). You’ll see several apps killed. Then, wait for a few seconds and try it again. Nothing will happen, as you’ve just killed everything.
Now, uninstall or clear the data in the tested app. After you click the “Optimize” button again, almost all of the apps you’ve just killed are shown to be killed again. Looks strange, huh? It might appear that the “Optimize” button doesn’t do anything. In reality, it does kill applications. The trick is that many apps start directly after being killed using Android’s WakeLock feature. Apps with an “Optimize” button have a timer which prevents users from seeing that killed apps are running again after a few seconds. Because of this, there is no sense in using “Optimize”.
More info about task-killing can be found here:
1. http://www.howtogeek.com/127388/htg-explains-why-you-shouldnt-use-a-task-killer-on-android/
How can I actually save my device’s battery life?
A couple main factors that contribute to saving battery is turning off certain features of your device including Wi-Fi and mobile data and limiting display brightness and timeout.
Avast now brings you Avast Battery Saver, an application which saves power without hassle. It optimizes phone settings such as Internet connectivity, screen brightness, and timeout according to your needs. Smart power profiles are activated automatically based on time, location, and battery level without sacrificing the activities you love most.
Avast Battery Saver also contains a powerful tool to solve the issue of apps draining your battery’s lifespan while not being used. You have the ability to see how much battery every app is draining and force stop any that you’re not currently using. Unlike task-killing, force-stopping is Android’s native solution to prevent apps from unnecessarily running in the background. Once force-stopped, an app will not run again until it’s next manually opened.
Ready to save? Download Avast Battery Saver for free on Google Play.
When it comes to cybercrime, it’s always better to be in the know. Here are a few ways that web attacks can find their way onto your device. Don’t be fooled — most cybercrooks design attacks to take place where you’d least expect it.
“A lot of attacks are still using social engineering techniques; phishing emails – ways of convincing the user to give up valuable information,” said Avast CEO Vince Steckler.
In a phishing or spearphishing attack, hackers use email messages to trick people into providing sensitive information, click on links, or download malware. The emails are seemingly sent from organizations or individuals the potential victims would normally get emails from, making them even more deceptive. Last July, Avast took a look at the Tinba Trojan, banking malware that used spearphishing to target its victims.
An example of an injected form from Tinba Trojan targeting U.S. Bank customers.
Web attacks also take place through SMS Text Phishing, also known as SMSishing. This method has become one of the most popular ways in which malicious threats are transmitted on Android devices. These text messages include links that contain malware, and upon clicking them, the malicious program is downloaded to the user’s device. These programs often operate as SMS worms capable of sending messages, removing apps and files, and stealing confidential information from the user.
Malicious programs can disguise themselves as real programs by hiding within popular apps or games. In February, we examined malicious apps posing as games on Google Play that infected millions of users with adware. In the case of malicious apps, cybercrooks tamper with the app’s code, inserting additional features and malicious programs that infect devices. As a result, the malware can attempt to use SMSishing in order to collect additional data.
The Durak card game app was the most widespread of the malicious apps with 5 – 10 million installations according to Google Play.
Another name that made headlines was a group of malware dubbed ransomware, such as CryptoLocker, and its variants Cryptowall, Prison Locker, PowerLocker, and Zerolocker. The most widespread is Cryptolocker, which encrypts data on a computer and demands money from the victim in order to provide the decryption key. Avast detects and protects its users from CryptoLocker and GameoverZeus.
Make sure you back up important files on a regular basis to avoid losing them to ransomware. Ransomware made its way from desktop to Android during the year, and Avast created a Ransomware Removal app to eliminate Android ransomware and unlocks encrypted files for free.
Count on Avast apps to keep mobile malware at bay
To keep your devices protected from other ransomware, make sure to also install Avast Free Mobile Security & Antivirus from the Google Play store. It can detect and remove the malware before it is deployed.
Install Avast Ransomware Removal to find out if your Android devices are infected and to get rid of an infection. Avast Ransomware Removal will tell you if your phone has ransomware on it. If you are infected, it will eliminate the malware. Android users who are clean can use the free app to prevent an infection from happening.Once installed, you can easily launch the app to scan the device, remove the virus, and then decrypt your hijacked files.
The Apple AppStore and Google Play are doing a great job in guarding their mobile users from downloading and installing malicious apps.
By centralizing App distribution, mobile platform owners can prevent hackers from uploading malicious apps and potentially infecting millions of users. This is a great lesson that we learned from the PC days where a decentralized distribution system, and open platform, made it easy for malware to spread.
Can we claim a victory on the hackers? Not quite yet.
The fact that the AppStore and Google Play managed to control the distribution of malicious apps does not mean there are no vulnerable apps out there.
Hackers are clever; they have found ways to get around stringent app store controls by exploiting existing non-malicious apps that are vulnerable. This can be done either via a different app, by inspecting data on transit or even via the web, while you browse from your mobile browser.
There are three main ways that an app can be vulnerable to hackers.
Data transmission
Almost all mobile apps transmit and receive data between our devices and remote servers. This allows apps to update, send statistics, check licenses, monitor analytics and so on. There are two ways that this leaves app vulnerable:
Data storage
As we use mobile apps, most of them store data locally on our devices. These often take the form of log files, which record our activities within an app, the strings we typed in it, cached data/reports and more. There are two ways that these files can leave apps vulnerable:
3rd party components
It’s quite common for app developers to release their products out to the market very quickly. As time is short, developers reuse components (SDKs) from 3rd parties to support the functionality they need. Example of popular development tools and components can be found here – http://www.appbrain.com/stats/libraries/dev
The issue with these toolkits is that they are not always secure. Here are a few examples:
Now that we have identified the main types of vulnerability found within mobile apps, it’s important to understand the root causes behind them. It’s not simply a question of bad coding.
Awareness
Just as with any problem, if you unaware of a risk you won’t pay attention to it. Most developers are trained to deliver functionality, not security.
Small development teams
Unlike PC products, most mobile apps require relatively small development teams. With the ever increasing functionality required and short time to market, the available time to spend on finding vulnerabilities is getting shorter and shorter.
Abandoned apps
Developers have abandoned thousands of apps due to low monetization. These abandoned apps are no longer supported and any vulnerabilities remain indefinitely.
Rush to market
The mobile world is moving faster than ever. Developers need to code and release their apps in almost ‘no time’. While the business demand functionality, that leaves almost no-time to security scanning and audits.
It’s not all bad news though, there are several things that app developers can do to improve the security of their apps.
Still, developers are not entirely responsible for eradicating vulnerable apps. Official mobile stores employ automatic security scanners to identify malicious apps. These can often be very difficult to detect and it requires lots of resources and attention.
However, a lot of improvements can be made to help prevent the distribution of vulnerable apps. I believe the most progress can be made in improving communication between the app stores and developers when issues arise:
A survey of more than a million apps on the Google Play and iOS App Store has found that more than 40 percent of ‘risky mobile’ apps originate from the United States
The post America is the leading developer of “risky mobile apps”, claims report appeared first on We Live Security.
A couple of days ago, a user posted a comment on our forum regarding apps harboring adware that can be found on Google Play. This didn’t seem like anything spectacular at the beginning, but once I took a closer look it turned out that this malware was a bit bigger than I initially thought. First of all, the apps are on Google Play, meaning that they have a huge target audience – in English speaking and other language regions as well. Second, the apps were already downloaded by millions of users and third, I was surprised that the adware lead to some legitimate companies.
The Durak card game app was the most widespread of the malicious apps with 5 – 10 million installations according to Google Play.
When you install Durak, it seems to be a completely normal and well working gaming app. This was the same for the other apps, which included an IQ test and a history app. This impression remains until you reboot your device and wait for a couple of days. After a week, you might start to feel there is something wrong with your device. Some of the apps wait up to 30 days until they show their true colors. After 30 days, I guess not many people would know which app is causing abnormal behavior on their phone, right?
Each time you unlock your device an ad is presented to you, warning you about a problem, e.g. that your device is infected, out of date or full of porn. This, of course, is a complete lie. You are then asked to take action, however, if you approve you get re-directed to harmful threats on fake pages, like dubious app stores and apps that attempt to send premium SMS behind your back or to apps that simply collect too much of your data for comfort while offering you no additional value.
An even bigger surprise was that users were sometimes directed to security apps on Google Play. These security apps are, of course, harmless, but would security providers really want to promote their apps via adware? Even if you install the security apps, the undesirable ads popping up on your phone don‘t stop. This kind of threat can be considered good social engineering. Most people won‘t be able to find the source of the problem and will face fake ads each time they unlock their device. I believe that most people will trust that there is a problem that can be solved with one of the apps advertised “solutions” and will follow the recommended steps, which may lead to an investment into unwanted apps from untrusted sources.
Avast Mobile Premium detects these apps, protecting its users from the annoying adware. Additionally, the apps’ descriptions should make users skeptical about the legitimacy of the apps. Both in English and in other languages such as German, were written poorly: “A card game called ‘Durak‘ – one of the most common and well known game“.
The apps‘ secure hash algorithm (SHA256) is the following: BDFBF9DE49E71331FFDFD04839B2B0810802F8C8BB9BE93B5A7E370958762836 9502DFC2D14C962CF1A1A9CDF01BD56416E60DAFC088BC54C177096D033410ED FCF88C8268A7AC97BF10C323EB2828E2025FEEA13CDC6554770E7591CDED462D
