Tag Archives: Android

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Microsoft Defender Adds Cross Platform Mobile Protections

Microsoft recently announced an important upgrade to Microsoft Defender.

It now supports vulnerability management for both Android and iOS.

The company’s announcement reads in part as follows:

“With this new cross-platform coverage, threat and vulnerability management capabilities now support all major device platforms across the organization – spanning workstations, servers, and mobile devices.

Threat and vulnerability management in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint continuously monitors and identifies impacted devices, assesses associated risks in the environment, and provides intelligent prioritization and integrated workflows to seamlessly remediate vulnerabilities.”

Although the new feature was introduced with very little fanfare, this is a significant change. This will make the lives of network admins much easier by significantly decreasing the surface attack area of mobile endpoints.

This is part of Microsoft’s broader strategy to expand the security platform’s capabilities across all platforms to provide endpoint users with a unified security solution.  Previous upgrades to Microsoft Defender’s capabilities included adding support for Linux users back in 2020.

Just one month later, the company added a “Microsoft Secure Score for Devices” feature. This is a feature that that allows network security professionals to evaluate the state of security of all devices connected to the enterprise network. It also includes a “recommended actions” section to further bolster security.

Then in October 2020 the company added another new feature that automatically generated reports to assist with the tracking of vulnerable Windows and macOS devices on the network. These included vulnerability severity levels, exploit availability, vulnerability age, and vulnerable devices sorted by OS.

All these changes are superb when evaluated individually but taken together they demonstrate just how serious Microsoft is taking matters of security. They also display the company’s clear commitment to provide cross-platform protection. This is all with the understanding that networks are no longer homogenous entities and are often made up of a wide range of different device types running a variety of operating systems.

Kudos to Microsoft for their ongoing efforts to make Microsoft Defender even more valuable than it already is.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

New Android Malware Steals Data And Factory Resets Phones

BRATA malware was first spotted in the wilds by Kaspersky back in 2019.

Its earliest incarnation saw it targeting e-banking users and it was designed to steal banking and login credentials of anyone infected.  That’s undeniably bad but according to researchers the latest version of BRATA has gotten downright nasty.

Security professionals have discovered a dangerous new variant in the wild that adds a raft of new features. One of the features includes allowing BRATA to steal a wide range of user data before resetting the infected device back to factory defaults when it’s done. That means it is essentially wiping away most of a user’s data.

Most users aren’t very good at backing up their data regularly and don’t always save their most cherished photos and videos to the cloud. So that could add a devastating personal loss on top of a hefty financial one.

The even worse news is that the hackers behind BRATA seem to be branching out.

In December of last year (2021) researchers started seeing BRATA pop up in Europe.  Based on recently analyzed code samples, the group behind BRATA is beginning to experiment with variants custom tailored to the country or region it is released in.  So far, researchers have found distinct variants targeting e-banking users in the UK, Poland, Italy, Spain, China, and Latin America.

The bottom line is that BRATA is a serious threat and the group behind the code is clearly setting their sights far beyond Brazil.  This one is one to watch in 2022. If it’s not already on your employees’ radar it certainly needs to be. So make them aware of the potential threat as soon as possible.

The standard protection protocols apply here.  Do your due diligence before installing any new app on your phone. Be sure you’re getting whatever apps you install from the Google Play Store direct.  That’s not bullet-proof protection but it’s a solid beginning.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Dark Herring Subscription Scam Affected Millions Of Android Users

Google partner Zimperium zLabs has recently discovered a sophisticated scam targeting more than 100 million Android users. The scam has been in operation right under Google’s nose for nearly two years.

The scam has now been shut down by Google but while it was in operation, it spanned some 470 Android apps on the Play Store. It was quietly subscribing users who installed the infected apps to a premium service that charged $15 USD per month through Direct Carrier Billing (DCB).

The decision to leverage DCB is both brilliant and terrifying.  It’s a legitimate mobile payment option that allows people to pay for digital content from the Play Store either via their pre-paid balance or post-paid with a bill.

Oftentimes, a user would be subscribed to a premium service for months before they noticed.  While that was happening, the scammers behind the attack (dubbed Dark Herring by the group that discovered it) were raking in profits from some 106 million Android users spread over more than 70 different countries.

Each of the hundreds of different apps that were infected with the malware had a different identifier. That means the scammers were able to track (with some granularity) which apps were bringing them in the most illicit profits.

One thing that this attack really underscored is how hard it is to stop something like this that has a global footprint.  Consumer protection laws vary wildly from one country to the next. So while users in some countries may have legal recourse, users in most other countries have no protection at all.  They’re simply out the money.

In any case kudos to the folks at Zimperium for their sharp eyes and to Google for taking swift action to dismantle the campaign.  Unfortunately, the fact that it’s now defunct is small consolation to the millions who lost money while it existed.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Android Apps Are Coming To Windows 11

One of the most persistently frustrating aspects of our highly interconnected world is that we seem to exist in at least three different distinct ecosystems.

Apple users live in the Apple ecosystem which encompasses both its mobile products and its PCs. Windows users live in the Windows ecosystem which encompasses both laptops and desktops but leaves mobile devices out in the cold. Of course, Android users live in their own ecosystem which is mobile-centric. By design there’s almost no overlap between these spheres and that’s a pity.

Microsoft thinks so, too. As part of their ongoing Windows 11 development they’re rolling out a feature that will allow users to run Android apps in a virtualized environment on their PCs.

This is huge news and a first tentative step that begins to bridge the divide between the various ecosystems.  Imaging installing a fun game on your Android based phone and then being able to pick up where you left off when you’re sitting at your Windows PC.

Or imagine downloading some type of productivity app on your Android phone and leveraging your PC to get even more out of it. Both of those are now possible with the latest release of Windows 11.

If you’re an early adopter of Windows 11 you probably already know what the most recent build contains. If you aren’t aware, in addition to the Android app functionality the latest build also sports a new look for Notepad, Media Player, and a raft of taskbar and other improvements.

Even better is that the company is reporting that Windows 11 adoption rates are even higher than the impressive Windows 10 adoption rates were. That bodes well for the company and signifies a broad-based acceptance of the company’s latest OS. Exciting times indeed and kudos to Microsoft for beginning to bridge the divide.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Working Towards Easier Integration Between Android And Windows

If you’re managing a company of any size and interested in copying from some other firm’s playbook, Apple is almost always a good choice.  Even the folks at Google seem to think so.

The search giant recently announced a plan to tighten the integration between Android/Chrome and Windows to create a seamless and hassle-free user experience.

One important first step down that road is Google’s introduction of “Fast Pair.”  Working with Acer, HP, and Intel, the company is aiming to make it quick and easy to pair your Windows PC with your Android phone.

Once the link between the two has been established users can then easily set up Bluetooth accessories, sync text messages across interconnected devices, and even share files using the company’s “Nearby Share” feature.  Development is already well underway, and the company reports that users should see this new functionality appearing on select PCs later this year (2022).

The company is also extending the Fast Pair concept beyond just desktop PCs and is hoping to bring that same kind of functionality to a wide range of wearables, cars and even things like TVs and other smart devices.  For example, if you own a Chromebook it is already capable of detecting your Fast Pair-enabled headphones when you turn them on, allowing you to connect them with a single click.

That ties in with Google’s vision of Ambient Computing.  Ultimately the goal will be to tie all of your smart devices together to create a seamless whole that’s easy to use and vastly more convenient than the world we live in today.

It will undoubtedly be a long road.  Apple has a head start on everyone but all of the major tech companies are moving in that direction. It won’t be long before our already highly connected world is even more tightly integrated than it is today and that is a very good thing.

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