Google announced they have prevented 2.28 million policy-violating apps from being published in the official Google Play.

Google announced that in 2023, they have prevented 2.28 million policy-violating apps from being published on Google Play. This amazing result was possible thanks to the introduction of enhanced security features, policy updates, and advanced machine learning and app review processes.

Additionally, Google Play strengthened its developer onboarding and review procedures, requesting a more accurate identification during account setup. These efforts resulted in the ban of 333,000 accounts for confirmed malware and repeated severe policy breaches.

Google also rejected or remediated approximately 200K app submissions to ensure proper use of sensitive permissions such as background location or SMS access. Google has closely worked with SDK providers to protect users’ privacy and prevent sensitive data access and sharing. Over 31 SDKs have enhanced their posture impacting 790K+ apps.

“We also significantly expanded the Google Play SDK Index, which now covers the SDKs used in almost 6 million apps across the Android ecosystem.” states Google. “This valuable resource helps developers make better SDK choices, boosts app quality and minimizes integration risks.”

Google continues to work on improving the Android environment. In November, 2023, it moved the App Defense Alliance (ADA) under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation, with Meta, Microsoft, and Google as founding steering members. The Alliance encourages widespread adoption of best practices and guidelines for app security across the industry, while also developing countermeasures to address emerging security threats.

Google enhanced Google Play Protect’s security capabilities to provide stronger protection for users installing apps from outside the Play Store. The company implemented real-time scanning at the code-level to detect new malicious apps. The company revealed that this measure has already identified over 5 million new malicious apps outside of the Play Store, enhancing Android users’ global security.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Google Play)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined the largest U.S. wireless carriers $200 million for sharing customers’ real-time location data without consent.

The FCC has fined four major U.S. wireless carriers nearly $200 million for unlawfully selling access to real-time location data of their customers without consent. The fines come as a result of the Notices of Apparent Liability (NAL) issued by the FCC against AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon in February 2020.

T-Mobile is facing a proposed fine exceeding $91 million, while AT&T is looking at one over $57 million. Verizon, on the other hand, faces a proposed fine exceeding $48 million, and Sprint faces a proposed fine of more than $12 million due to the actions taken by the FCC.

“The Federal Communications Commission today proposed fines against the nation’s four largest wireless carriers for apparently selling access to their customers’ location information without taking reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to that information.” reads the announcement published by FCC. “As a result, T-Mobile faces a proposed fine of more than $91 million; AT&T faces a proposed fine of more than $57 million; Verizon faces a proposed fine of more than $48 million; and Sprint faces a proposed fine of more than $12 million. The FCC also admonished these carriers for apparently disclosing their customers’ location information, without their authorization, to a third party.”

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau launched an investigation after Missouri Sheriff Cory Hutcheson misused a “location-finding service” provided by Securus, a communications service provider for correctional facilities, to access the location data of wireless carrier customers without their consent from 2014 to 2017. Hutcheson allegedly provided irrelevant documents, such as health insurance and auto insurance policies, along with pages from sheriff training manuals, as evidence of authorization to access the data.

FCC added that the carriers continued to sell access to the customers’ location information and did not sufficiently guard it from further unauthorized access even after discovering irregular procedures.

All four carriers condemned the FCC’s decision and announced they would appeal it.

The Communications Act mandates that telecommunications carriers safeguard the confidentiality of specific customer data, including location information, about telecommunications services. Carriers must adopt reasonable measures to prevent unauthorized access to customer data. Furthermore, carriers or their representatives must typically secure explicit consent from customers before utilizing, disclosing, or permitting access to such data. Carriers bear responsibility for the actions of their representatives in this regard.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Federal Communications Commission)

The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) orders smart device manufacturers to ban default passwords starting from April 29, 2024.

The U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is urging manufacturers of smart devices to comply with new legislation that bans default passwords.

The law, known as the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure act (or PSTI act), will be effective on April 29, 2024.

“From 29 April 2024, manufacturers of consumer ‘smart’ devices must comply with new UK law.” reads the announcement published by NCSC. “The law, known as the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure act (or PSTI act), will help consumers to choose smart devices that have been designed to provide ongoing protection against cyber attacks.”

The U.K. is the first country in the world to ban default credentia from IoT devices.

The law prohibits manufacturers from supplying devices with default passwords, which are easily accessible online and can be shared.

The law applies to the following products:

• Smart speakers, smart TVs, and streaming devices
• Smart doorbells, baby monitors, and security cameras
• Cellular tablets, smartphones, and game consoles
• Wearable fitness trackers (including smart watches)
• Smart domestic appliances (such as light bulbs, plugs, kettles, thermostats, ovens, fridges, cleaners, and washing machines)

Threat actors could use them to access a local network or launch cyber attacks.

Manufacturers are obliged to designate a contact point for reporting security issues and must specify the minimum duration for which the device will receive crucial security updates.

The NCSC clarified that the PSTI act also applies to organizations importing or retailing products for the UK market, including most smart devices manufactured outside the UK. Manufacturers that don’t comply with the act will be punished with fines of up to £10 million or 4% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, smart device manufacturers)

The US government’s cybersecurity agency CISA published a series of guidelines to protect critical infrastructure against AI-based attacks.

CISA collaborated with Sector Risk Management Agencies (SRMAs) and regulatory agencies to conduct sector-specific assessments of AI risks to U.S. critical infrastructure, as mandated by Executive Order 14110 Section 4.3(a)(i). The analysis categorized AI risks into three categories:

• Attacks Using AI;
• Attacks Targeting AI Systems;
• Failures in AI Design and Implementation.

AI risk management for critical infrastructure is an ongoing process throughout the AI lifecycle.

These guidelines integrate the AI Risk Management Framework into enterprise risk management programs for critical infrastructure. The AI RMF Core consists of the Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage functions.

The Govern function within the AI RMF establishes an organizational approach to AI Risk Management within existing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). Recommended actions for addressing risks throughout the AI lifecycle are integrated into the Map, Measure, and Manage functions. These guidelines improve AI safety and security risk management practices proposed by the NIST AI RMF.

CISA highlights that the risks are context-dependent, this implies that critical infrastructure operators should consider sector-specific and context-specific factors when assessing and mitigating AI risks. Specific sectors may need to define their own tailored guidelines for managing AI risk. Stakeholders may focus on different aspects of the AI lifecycle depending on their sector or role, whether they are involved in the design, development, procurement, deployment, operation, management, maintenance, or retirement of AI systems.

“Critical infrastructure owners and operators can foster a culture of risk management by aligning AI safety and security priorities with their own organizational principles and strategic priorities. This organizational approach follows a “secure by design” philosophy where leaders prioritize and take ownership of safety and security outcomes and build organizational structures that make security a top priority.” read the guidelines.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, CISA)

Finnish hacker was sentenced to more than six years in prison for hacking into an online psychotherapy clinic and attempted extortion.

A popular 26-year-old Finnish hacker Aleksanteri Kivimäki was sentenced to more than six years in prison for hacking into the online psychotherapy clinic Vastaamo Psychotherapy Center, exposing tens of thousands of patient therapy records, and trying to extort the clinic and its clients.

The man was arrested near Paris on February 2023, where he was living under a false identity. Kivimäki was deported to Finland and his trial concluded in March 2024.

In October 2020, the Vastaamo Psychotherapy Center was the victim of an extortion attempt. Threat actors hacked the clinic and stole a database containing information of some 33,000 clients. A threat actor that goes online with moniker “ransom_man” demanded 40 bitcoin (approximately 450,000 euros at the time) to avoid leaking sensitive therapy information stolen for the clinic, which refused to pay.

“Ransom_man announced on the dark web that he would start publishing 100 patient profiles every 24 hours. When Vastaamo declined to pay, ransom_man shifted to extorting individual patients. According to Finnish police, some 22,000 victims reported extortion attempts targeting them personally, targeted emails that threatened to publish their therapy notes online unless paid a 500 euro ransom.” reads the post published by Brian Krebs. “Finnish prosecutors quickly zeroed in on a suspect: Julius “Zeekill” Kivimäki, a notorious criminal hacker convicted of committing tens of thousands of cybercrimes before he became an adult. After being charged with the attack in October 2022, Kivimäki fled the country. He was arrested four months later in France, hiding out under an assumed name and passport.”

The hacker demanded a ransom of 200 euros or 500 euros to each patient, and about 20 clients paid it.

The man was found guilty of several offenses, which included aggravated data breach, 21,000 counts of aggravated blackmail attempts, and 9,200 counts of aggravated dissemination.

Kivimäki denied all charges and may appeal, according to his lawyer. Prosecutors aimed for the maximum sentence of seven years, given the nature of the crimes.

Kivimäki was involved in multiple criminal cases in the past, he was a member of the hacker group Hack the Planet (HTP).

Kivimäki is also known as a member of the notorious hacker group Lizard Squad.

In 2013, investigators discovered malicious code on devices seized from Kivimäki, which was used by HTP to compromise over 60,000 servers exploiting an Adobe ColdFusion zero-day. This exploit was reported by Brian Krebs in September 2013, after the hackers breached the servers of LexisNexis, Kroll, and Dun & Bradstreet.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Finnish Hacker)

The China-linked threat actors Muddling Meerkat are manipulating DNS to probe networks globally since 2019.

Infoblox researchers observed China-linked threat actors Muddling Meerkat using sophisticated DNS activities since 2019 to bypass traditional security measures and probe networks worldwide.

The experts noticed a spike in activity observed in September 2023.

The threat actors appear to have the capability to control China’s Great Firewall and were observed utilizing a novel technique involving fake DNS MX records.

Attackers used “super-aged” domains, usually registered before the year 2000, to avoid DNS blocklists and blending in with old malware at the same time

The attackers manipulate MX (Mail Exchange) records by injecting fake responses through China’s Great Firewall. However, the Infoblox researchers have yet to discover the motivation behind the attacks.

“The GFW can be described as an “operator on the side,” meaning that it does not alter DNS responses directly but injects its own answers, entering into a race condition with any response from the original intended destination. When the GFW response is received by the requester first, it can poison their DNS cache.” reads the analysis published by Infoblox. “The GFW creates a lot of noise and misleading data that can hinder investigations into anomalous behavior in DNS. I have personally gone hunting down numerous trails only to conclude: oh, it’s just the GFW.”

The experts noticed that a cluster of activities linked to a threat actor tracked as “ExploderBot” included most demonstrably damaging DNS DDoS attacks, ceased in May 2018. However, low-volume attacks resembling Slow Drip DDoS attacks have persisted since then. These attacks involve queries for random subdomains of target domains, propagated through open resolvers. Despite their lower volumes, these attacks share similar behavioral patterns to DNS DDoS attacks.

Muddling Meerkat’s operations also used MX record queries for random subdomains of target domains, rather than the base domain itself. This scenario is unusual as it typically occurs when a user intends to send email to a subdomain, which is not common in normal DNS activity. The researchers noticed that many of the target domains lack functional mail servers, making these queries even more mysterious.

“The data we have suggests that the operations are performed in independent “stages;” some include MX queries for target domains, and others include a broader set of queries for random subdomains. The DNS event data containing MX records from the GFW often occurs on separate dates from those where we see MX queries at open resolvers.” concludes the report. “Because the domain names are the same across the stages and the queries are consistent across domain names, both over a multi-year period, these stages surely must be related, but we did not draw a conclusion about how they are related or why the actor would use such staged approaches.”

The report also includes indicators of compromise (IoCs) recommendations to neutralize these activities..

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, DNS)