NSA tired to plant malware on Google Play: SnowdenMay 23, 2015 - 11:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Whistleblower Edward Snowden has revealed fresh details about the US National Security Agency's controversial surveillance practices, this time involving the spread of malware to mobile phones, Digital Spy reports. Documents from the former CIA worker obtained by The Intercept suggest that the government agency planned to infect handsets with an app-hijacking programme codenamed 'Irritant Horn'. The NSA apparently planned to spread the malware via Google Play servers and Samsung's update protocol, allowing them to intercept data and infect specific users via a man-in-the-middle attack. It would then be possible for the spy agency to obtain sensitive data from people of interest, including their contacts list and communications. Google Play and Samsung both have encryption in place, but cryptographers have long speculated that the NSA has methods to circumvent this form of protection. The document dates back to between 2011 and 2012 and it is unclear whether the NSA ever went ahead with the proposal, but it hardly has a glistening track record when it comes to respecting the public's privacy. Photo: AFP/Getty Images Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Russia provides info about arrested Armenian ex-MP Russian law enforcement agencies have provided information about the arrest of Tigran Urikhanyan. Lemkin Institue slams Pashinyan's “cryptic engagement with Genocide denial” The Lemkin Institute is alarmed over Pashinyan’s statements “questioning Armenia's legal basis to pursue justice against Turkey”. 41 detained as antigovernment protests continue in Yerevan 41 people were detained in Yerevan as people demanding Pashinian’s resignation stage campaigns of civil disobedience. Armenia votes for UN resolution granting Palestine new rights The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on May 10 to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine. |