Messengers and mobile apps have become essential tools for information exchange, communication, and entertainment. However, you should always be careful as this seemingly easy data exchange can lead to serious problems. This is a digest of data leaks through these channels that occurred in the summer of 2018, prepared by InfoWatch Analytical Center.
The most recent notorious leak through a mobile app happened in the United Kingdom. The profile of a Royal Air Force female pilot on dating app Tinder was hacked, allowing a spy to contact RAF servicemen and sweet-talk at least one into revealing details about the F-35 Lightning II fighter. Fortunately, little information was disclosed and the individual whose account had been hacked reported this matter expediently enabling prompt follow-up action and investigation. British investigators’ suspicion is likely to center on the intelligence services of other countries.
In late June, a South Korea-based exchange, Bitkoex, potentially put some $620,000 worth of cryptocurrency at risk, when its employee accidentally posted sensitive information of 19 exchange users in a social media chat, including their e-mails, wallet addresses and private keys to the Karma (KRM) token in their accounts. Following the accident, the exchange moved the exposed assets to a cold wallet, which is not accessible through the Internet. As such, the company asserted no assets had been lost.
An investigation by Hudl, a U.S. online and mobile-accessible video hosting service, determined that football coaching staff of Braden River High (Bradenton, FL) improperly accessed an account to view video footage of four Sarasota County football teams.
Fake mobile apps are among the most favorite data capture tools used by hackers. Thus, several fake versions of Fortnite for Android were advertised online ahead of the official Android launch of this game that had already been one of the most popular on the App Store. Such apps can collect personal information from smartphones, including mobile banking data, experts warn.
Hackers also use vulnerabilities in legitimate apps. For example, Check Point Research recently unveiled new WhatsApp vulnerabilities that could allow threat actors to intercept and manipulate messages sent in both private and group conversations, giving attackers immense power to create and spread misinformation from what appear to be trusted sources.
