Afro News 24 » Technology»Top Stories » ↓

Mobile phone app stole private data from millions

---

San Francisco  – A free application that allowed users to change the background image on their Android smartphones actually stole private data from as many as 4 million people and transmitted it to China, security experts have revealed.

The so-called Jackeey Wallpaper app surreptitiously transmitted the phone’s Internet browser history, mobile phone number, every single text message and voicemail password to a website based in Shenzhen, China.

The security breach, which is one of the most serious ever to hit the smartphone market, was revealed at the Black Hat security conference by mobile security firm Lookout, according to reports on technology websites Thursday.

The threat was limited to phones running Google’s Android operating system, which allows any third party developer to place applications in the Android marketplace for users to download. This contrasts with applications for Apple’s iPhone, which are vetted and authorized by Apple before being made available to users. dpa ag aw

---