Tag Archives: Android

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

T-Mobile Reports Scam Calls Have Increased 116 Percent Since 2020

If you’re like most cellphone users,  you absolutely love the automatic call blocking feature that most companies offer as part of their standard service.  A call comes in from a “suspicious” number and the phone just blocks it.

That’s awesome and even better is you can add new numbers to it.  So on those occasions when a spam call gets through it’s a simple matter to add the problematic number to the “don’t let through” list and you’ve got one less thing to worry about.

Since those calls are out of sight and out of mind however, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that they’re still happening.  In fact, according to data recently offered by telecom giant T-Mobile the company has blocked a staggering 21 billion scam, spam, and other unwanted robocalls so far this year.

Even more dismaying though is the fact that this year (2021) has seen scam call traffic jump by an almost unbelievable 116 percent compared with the data from last year.  That amounts to more than 425 million scam calls attempted every week.  It’s a mind-boggling crush of phone traffic thankfully blocked by the fine folks at T-Mobile and other carriers.

These calls run the gamut.  According to the company’s data the calls were related to a broad range of topics including fake vehicle warranty scams, scams related to the Social Security office, package delivery, and insurance related scams to name a few.

The company had this to say about its “Scam Shield” service:

“T-Mobile Scam Shield has identified or blocked over 21 BILLION calls for T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers through early December 2021. 

The lowest measured month for scam traffic was January 2021, identifying 1.1 billion calls as Scam Likely. By November, volume had increased exponentially, and T-Mobile identified double the January traffic at 2.5 billion calls as Scam Likely.”

Kudos to T-Mobile for fighting the good fight!

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

This Android Banking Malware Is Back

We haven’t heard much about Anubis in recent months. Anubis is the nasty Android-based banking Trojan that has made headlines on more than one occasion.

If history is any guide at all Anubis will soon be making headlines again.  It’s back and based on the findings from researchers at Lookout the hackers controlling the malware mean business.

Anubis has been around since at least 2016 when its source code appeared on a variety of Russian hacking forums. Some open-source projects don’t get much love but Anubis has received regular updates that have kept it current and made it more dangerous than ever. Although it’s been a while since the malware was used in a major campaign there are warning signs that things are about to change.

As an example, in 2019  a copy of Anubis was found embedded in an app in the Google Play Store with a not quite functional ransomware module. It was probably placed there as a test. In 2020 Anubis briefly resurfaced courtesy of a large-scale phishing campaign that targeted more than 250 shopping and banking apps.

The Lookout researchers were able to grab a copy of the malware they found circulating in the wild. Based on their findings the newly enhanced malware will be used in a large-scale campaign that will target nearly 300 apps.

Additionally, its latest improvements leave it with the following capabilities:

  • Recording screen activity and sound from the microphone
  • Implementing a SOCKS5 proxy for covert communication and package delivery
  • Capturing screenshots
  • Sending mass SMS messages from the device to specific recipients
  • Retrieving contacts stored on the device
  • Sending, reading, deleting, and blocking notifications for SMS messages received by the device
  • Scanning the device for files of interest to exfiltrate
  • Locking the device screen and displaying a persistent ransom note
  • Submitting USSD code requests to query bank balances
  • Capturing GPS data and pedometer statistics
  • Implementing a keylogger to steal credentials
  • Monitoring active apps to mimic and perform overlay attacks
  • Stopping malicious functionality and removing the malware from the device

In other words, Anubis appears to be back from the dead and the coming months will probably be interesting as if we needed that!

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Android Can Track AirTags And Similar Devices With New App

The Apple and Android ecosystems just took another step toward melding together with the release of a new App built by Apple.

The app allows Android devices to track any nearby device that is “Find My-enabled.”

From Apple’s perspective the move is less about creating a user experience that spans ecosystems and more about user security.

The new Android App is called Tracker Detect and can be found on the Google Play store. Once the app is downloaded and installed an Android user can scan the immediate area for rogue AirTags or other “FindMy-enabled” devices.

If you’re not already familiar with AirTags the big thing to know about them is that they will begin to beep annoyingly every few minutes if they have been disconnected from their owner.  The beeping is a means of alerting those nearby that an AirTag is present ostensibly in a bid to get a helping hand in finding its way back home.

The new App makes that process just a little bit easier. Once you’ve installed it you’ll be presented with a simple screen with a prompt to begin a scan of your immediate vicinity.

If you tell the app to scan it will look for any unknown devices and present you with the option to play a sound on the device. It will do this along with providing instructions for scanning the tag to see who it belongs to (or removing the battery to disable it).

The key thing to note here is that it is not a passive scan.  The person using the app must proactively scan for devices.  In an ideal world some future version would at least allow for the possibility of passively scanning an area as you moved through it, but this is  a step in the right direction.  Kudos to Apple!

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Study Shows People Are Spending More On Mobile Apps

App spending in 2021 grew by an impressive 25 percent in 2021 and has increased to an impressive $135 billion.  Even better is the growth shows no signs of slowing down.

That is surprising because the industry at large has come under increased scrutiny and both the Apple and Google App Stores have introduced new developer rules governing in-app payments.

Overall Apple’s App Store leads in total revenues while Google’s massive Play Store leads in terms of total numbers of downloads. That is according to the most recently published research by App Annie.

Apple users accounted for 65 percent of the total app revenue with $87.5 billion. Google Play racked up $47.25 billion which is a lower number despite having a larger user base.

A different app analytics company named Sensor Tower reports similar data.  According to their research spending on apps will reach $133 billion in 2021 representing a 19.7 percent growth.

Of interest Sensor Tower’s data provides more detail on the total number of downloads as well.  They estimate that downloads from the Google Play store will top 100 billion by the end of this year (2021) versus just over 30 billion from Apple’s App Store which is a good way of comparing the relative size of the rival ecosystems.

There are some lingering concerns that as the pandemic recedes further into the background and life begins to return to normal that the explosive growth in app sales will taper off.  It’s entirely possible that the rate of growth will slow given that the pandemic has fundamentally altered a number of aspects of our daily life. However all expectations are that growth will continue to be robust.

If you’re thinking of launching a premium app to support your existing business now is a great time to do so.

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

You Can Now Easily Block Users in Spotify

Are you a Spotify user? Have you found yourself wanting or needing to block another user?

Until recently if you found yourself in that situation you had no choice but to contact customer support and have them block the user for you. Apparently it’s become a big enough and common enough issue that the company decided to put that power into the hands of individual users.

If you ever need to block another user on the platform here’s how you go about it:

  • The first step is to go to the user’s profile page. Just beneath their username and profile photo but above their public playlist (right next to the “follow” button) you’ll see three dots.
  • Click those three dots and choose the “Block” option that comes up on the menu. Note that on mobile devices it will be labeled as “Block User.”
  • From then on the user in question won’t be able to access your listening activity, your public playlists, your user page, or your profile. You may unblock any user you have blocked at any time.

The company had this to say about the recent change:

“At Spotify, we’re committed to delivering the best possible listening experience to our users. Privacy is something that is and always will be, enormously important to us and our block feature, which gives users more control, is the latest step towards that commitment.”

This builds on a feature that the company added back in 2019 which allowed listeners to block any artist they didn’t like and didn’t want to hear music from. The company has faced a slowly growing chorus of complaints from their user base about other members stalking them online.

It took the company a while to respond but respond they did. The new feature should be available by the time you read these words.

0
1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 17