Snowden Docs: NSA Planned To Hack Into Individual Phones By Hijacking Android Play Store And Samsung App Store
National Security Agency had hatched a plan that would allow it to infect smartphones with malware by hijacking Google Play store and Samsung App Store, according to new documents released by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The leaked documents are from the internal workshops and date back to 2011 and 2012. It were published by The Intercept and outlined a plan codenamed 'irritant horn.'
The goal of the plan was to find ways to exploit the connection between Android smartphones and app stores and allow NSA and its other counterparts in Canada, U.K., New Zealand and Australia to inject data-collecting malware into users' phones.
"But the agencies wanted to do more than just use app stores as a launching pad to infect phones with spyware. They were also keen to find ways to hijack them as a way of sending "selective misinformation to the targets' handsets" as part of so-called "effects" operations that are used to spread propaganda or confuse adversaries. Moreover, the agencies wanted to gain access to companies' app store servers so they could secretly use them for "harvesting" information about phone users," the Intercept noted.
According to the leaked documents, NSA also found a security vulnerability in UC Browser, an Android browser extremely popular in Asia.
However, it is still unclear if these were implemented or not. Regardless, the NSA has proven its disregard for user privacy many times. The revelation is a startling reminder that our data may bot be safe after all.
