Items tagged with stagefright

by Rob Williams - Sun, Mar 20, 2016

Stagefright Vulnerability Can Compromise Android Devices In 20 Seconds Or Less

Thought the Stagefright saga was all behind us? Think again. In a new paper published by Israel's NorthBit, we're shown that Stagefright can still prove to be a serious threat to older devices, with some able to be cracked in as little as 20 seconds. If you're still toting around a Nexus 5, LG G3, HTC One, or Samsung Galaxy S5, you should take note. Samsung's Galaxy S5, released in 2014, is affected by Metaphor As a bit of a recap, Stagefright isn't just one bug; rather, it's an overarching vulnerability that includes a number of different bugs that affects Android devices versioned 2.2 and newer. While modern phones that still receive updates would have likely received a patch for Stagefright... Read more...

by Paul Lilly - Mon, Aug 17, 2015

Patch For Android Stagefright Exploit Might Not Be So Effective After All

Considering that Android is installed on around eight out 10 smartphones around the world, it was pretty scary to find out about Stagefright, a vulnerability that's present on almost all of them. Even more frightening is that in many cases, the exploit could be triggered with a simple text message. In theory, an attacker could text your handset while you're sleeping, take control of your phone, and wipe any trace of something nefarious taking place so that you'd never be the wiser. That got the attention of Google, which patched the MMS exploit and sent the code to wireless carriers. One by one, Android handsets began receiving over-the-air security updates, and just last night, I received a... Read more...

by Joshua Gulick - Mon, Jul 27, 2015

Vicious Texting Exploit Turns 95% Of Android Devices Into Leak-Happy Zombies

Is your phone recording your voice right now? If you have an Android smartphone, you shouldn’t be so sure that it isn’t, given a discovery by a researcher from mobile security firm Zimperium. The San Francisco-based company claims to have uncovered a method for attacking phones, known as Stagefright, which gives a hacker complete access to a smartphone running Google’s operating system – all without the user knowing. There hasn't been any indication that malicious parties have attempted to use the attack... yet. The seriousness of the threat lies in the way it infiltrates your phone, according to Zimperium researcher Joshua Drake. The attacker hides the malware in a video and texts it to your... Read more...