Several Models of Android Devices Discovered Collecting and Transmitting Sensitive Personal Data

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Several Models of Android Devices Discovered Collecting and Transmitting Sensitive Personal Data

By CircleID Reporter
November 16, 2016, 2:55 am PST Views: 6,490 Add Comment

Several models of Android mobile devices discovered containing firmware that collect sensitive personal data about their users and transmitted this sensitive data to third-party servers without disclosure or the users’ consent. The report comes from mobile application security and intelligence firm, Kryptowire—an offshoot of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Department of Homeland Security. From the report: “These devices actively transmitted user and device information including the full-body of text messages, contact lists, call history with full telephone numbers, unique device identifiers including the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). The firmware could target specific users and text messages matching remotely defined keywords. The firmware also collected and transmitted information about the use of applications installed on the monitored device, bypassed the Android permission model, executed remote commands with escalated (system) privileges, and was able to remotely reprogram the devices.”

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