People with Samsung phones: listen up. A flaw in the Galaxy S4s and newer could allow hackers to access your personal data, like photos, text messages and passwords.
An estimated 600 million devices are affected by this serious software glitch.
The problem stems from the phone’s keyboard, made by tech company Swiftkey. The Swiftkey keyboard can be tricked to accept a malicious file, putting users at risk of becoming victims of identity theft.
“[Hackers] want to see you logging into Facebook, to Twitter. Banking is probably the biggest one. They want to see your username and password for banking,” said Manny Barrera, the store manager of Mobile Comm, a Wichita cell phone repair chain.
In a statement to KAKEnews, Samsung says a fix is on the way:
“Samsung Knox has the capability to update the security policy of the phones, over-the-air, to invalidate any potential vulnerabilities caused by this issue. The security policy updates will begin rolling out in a few days. In addition to the security policy update, we are also working with Swiftkey to address potential risks going forward.”
In the meantime, Barrera advises users to stay off unsecured WiFi networks.
“Coffee shops are really popular for this kind of thing because it’s a free network. Anybody can just get on, hackers,” Barrera said. “You don’t have to panic or return your phone. Don’t stop using your phone. Just be a little cautious and just do a software update when you’re prompted.”
Researchers at a cyber security firm called NowSecure told Samsung about the problem last November. But since nothing was done about it., they made their findings public this week.
View the original content and more from this author here: http://ift.tt/1HXxG8C
from hacker samurai http://ift.tt/1SrADBr
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment