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uniqs
947

Link Logger
MVM
join:2001-03-29
Calgary, AB

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Link Logger

MVM

Hackers replace Sony146;s backup app on Google Play

And if Sony doesn't have enough problems already.
quote:
Be very careful if you’re updating apps on your Sony Xperia smartphone this week. It looks like as if an app called Sony Backup & Restore was compromised by a group calling itself the “HeArT HaCkEr Group.”

Sony’s Backup & Restore tool is a pretty straightforward app. It can back up device settings and data to a MicroSD card. It’s pre-installed on a lot of Sony phones, including the new Xperia Z3. But the version on Google Play for several hours on Monday said it was managed by “Nirak Patel Kanudo” and its reviews were terrible. The app description also included several typos.

The issue was first spotted on the Xperia support forums early on Monday morning. Apparently, the hacker group (or Nirav Patel) published its app (with a different icon) on the Play Store and gave it the same internal signature name as the official Sony version. That means that phones with the app installed will display an option to grab the compromised software as an “update.” Sony users can’t even uninstall the app because it’s a system app.

»gigaom.com/2014/11/24/ha ··· le-play/

Blake

DrStrange
Technically feasible
Premium Member
join:2001-07-23
Bristol, CT

DrStrange

Premium Member

It's at times like this when I most appreciate my beat-up Samsung Flight.

Does anyone know what Sony did to get themselves in the cross-hairs, or were they just a target of convenience/opportunity?
redwolfe_98
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11

redwolfe_98 to Link Logger

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to Link Logger
maybe google shouldn't allow criminals to upload malware to the "google play" store?

i read an article that said that sony xperia phones were phoning home to china.. here is one that i pulled up, just now:

»thehackernews.com/2014/1 ··· ing.html