NEWS
Google identifies new Android spyware – Lipizzan
By VARINDIA - 2017-07-28
As per news source, Google’s security researchers have identified a new Android spyware named Lipizzan. This spyware steals information of users like text messages, emails, voice calls, photos, location data, and other files, and spy on them. It has been developed by Equus Technologies, an Israeli startup. Google has referred this company as a “cyber arms” seller in a blog post.
Google has identified this spyware with the help of its Play Protect tool. The security team found at least 20 affected apps in Play Store which infected around 100 Android smartphones. Google has blocked and removed all the Lipizzan apps and developers from its ecosystem. Google Play Protect has informed all the victims also.
As per the internet search giant, Lipizzan is a muti-stage spyware tool that gains full access to a target Android device in two steps. First, the attackers distribute Lipizzan by posing it as a backup or cleaner app. After a user installs it, the spyware automatically downloads the second stage, which is a "licence verification" to survey the infected device to ensure the device is unable to detect the second stage.
In the next stage, the malware will root the infected device with known Android exploits and then starts extracting data and send it to a remote Command and Control server controlled by the attackers.
Android users should follow few steps like one should opt for Google Play Protect, download and install apps from the official Play Store, enable verify apps option in settings, protect the device with a pin or password, disable the unknown sources option, keep the device up-to-date with latest security patches.
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