According to the first studies on the documents released by Wikileaks, millions of Android users are at risk of espionage because of the operating system's flaws
Now that the documents released by Wikileaks on the CIA's espionage work can be consulted also by computer security experts, the first problems for Android smartphone and tablet users start to emerge. According to some experts, millions of users are at risk of espionage.
Wikileaks has released more than 8600 documents related to the CIA's spying activities: the files show that the U.S. agency in recent years has made great use of malware to infect the devices of suspects and monitor their every movement and conversation. To end up under the eye of the storm were both smartphones and connected objects that we use every day in our homes: smart TVs can be easily tampered with and used by U.S. intelligence services (and not only) to listen to people's conversations. The risk is real and concerns millions of people.
Android users are the most exposed
It became clear right from the start that the efforts made by companies to produce increasingly secure and hacker-proof devices have been rendered futile by the work of hackers. The CIA has built in recent years a real arsenal of malware, viruses and Trojans kicking to infect any type of device: cyber weapons very dangerous that if they ended up in the wrong hands could create death and destruction. For this reason, both Apple and Google immediately ran for cover to try to fix the flaws present on iOS and Android. If from the first hours the Cupertino company announced that all the holes highlighted in the documents have been "plugged" in the previous months, the situation for Android users is much more serious. At the moment the Mountain View company is working to solve the problems and as soon as possible should release a new update, but according to some computer security experts would be millions of Android users at risk of espionage.
Problem related to Android 4.4
The biggest flaw is contained in the version of Android 4.4 and all previous ones. According to the latest data it would be about 33% of all Android users spread around the world. But it is not said that those who use a more updated version of the green robot's mobile operating system are safe. In fact, as Wikileaks announced, the more than 8600 documents are only a very small part of all the files on the CIA that would hide the other cyber tools used by the U.S. Agency. E che potrebbero colpire non soltanto Android, ma anche gli utenti Apple. Vedremo nei prossimi mesi se Wikileaks renderà pubblici gli altri file.
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