It's no secret that phones and Google accounts collect and store passwords, browser histories and the tracks of your movements. Some of this can be turned off, something on the conscience of manufacturers of phones and operating systems.
But here we are talking about …
Erez Yalon, head of the security department at Checkmarx, spoke about the vulnerability found on Google and Samsung devices. The vulnerability was found on Pixel 2 XL and Pixel 3 smartphones, as well as on Samsung devices (strange, but specific models are not named).
Firstly, what had been rumored for a long time was confirmed - a vulnerability in these models allows third-party applications to control the camera without having permission to do so. And interestingly, remote users can access photos stored on the device and take new pictures, even if the phone is locked or in voice call mode. Fuck, huh?
But this is generally interesting: the vulnerability made it possible to record the voices of both interlocutors during a conversation and provided access to GPS-tags. Those. remotely, you can safely listen to all your conversations and know where you are.
For example, Erez Yalon created a weather tracking application that only asked for one permission - to access memory. Later, the researchers found that closing the application does not cut off the connection to the server, providing the attackers with a list of all connected devices.
What else is left outside the scope of research and proceedings? Moreover, it seems to me that the further the modern technology is specially equipped with functions and capabilities to transmit voice, video, geotags on request from outside and without our knowledge. As soon as the Internet and cameras appear in refrigerators, kettles, cars, and massively apartments begin to switch to “smart homes” with an Internet connection - count it all, the struggle for your personal space will multiply. At the same time, the defense will often always lose to the attack, since according to the “old Russian proverb” we remember that “if one person has built, then the other can always break” ©
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