Tag Archives: Android corner

‘Stagefright’ Android bug needs your phone number to work

Believed to be the worst Android vulnerability yet discovered, the “Stagefright” bug exposes nearly 1 billion Android devices to malware. This malware is delivered by a multimedia message sent via Google Hangouts. This exploit is considered extremely dangerous because the victim is not required to take any action and there are no apparent effects. The attacker […]

Android malware Fobus now targeting users in the U.S., Germany and Spain

Mid January we informed you of a data-stealing piece of Android malware called Fobus. Back then Fobus mainly targeted our users in Eastern Europe and Russia. Now, Fobus is also targeting our users in the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and other countries around the world. Fobus can cost its unaware victims a lot of money, because it sends […]

How to thoroughly wipe your phone before selling it

Make sure your Android phone is wiped clean before you sell it. Every day, tens of thousands of people sell or give away their old mobile phones. We decided to buy some of these used phones to test whether they had been wiped clean of their data. What we found was astonishing: 40,000 photos including […]

Widespread iScam ransomware originates from US servers

iPhone and iPad users who turn on Avast SecureLine VPN while on unsecured Wi-Fi are protected from iScam. It’s a common belief (and myth) that Apple products are invincible against malware. This false line of thinking has recently again been refuted, as iPhone and iPad users have been encountering a ransomware threat that freezes their […]

Do third-party app stores pose a threat to mobile security?

Over time, we’ve noticed the presence of some fairly heated user debates disputing the necessity of security or antivirus apps for Android devices. This could have been sparked by our recent post which argues that you can’t always rely on the security of Google Play or because of the myth that antivirus companies create viruses to sell more […]

Samsung phones vulnerable to hacker attack via keyboard update

We rely on our apps. Everyday we use our favorite ones to check news, the weather for our next trip, and communicate with our loved ones. Some apps, especially the system ones, are continuously in use, even if they are not the foremost app on your screen. The keyboard is one of them. Recently, a […]

How to stay safe when using public Wi-Fi hotspots

Many of the Wi-Fi hotspots you use in your hometown and when you travel have major security flaws making it easy for hackers to see your browsing activity, searches, passwords, videos, emails, and other personal information. It’s a public Wi-Fi connection, meaning that you are sharing the network with lots of strangers. Those strangers can […]

The Internet of Things (to be hacked)?

By the end of the decade, everyone on Earth will be connected. –Eric Schmidt, Google chairman As a rule of thumb, it’s good to keep in mind that anything and everything that can be connected to the Internet can be hacked. Poorly designed or implemented systems could expose serious vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Now, […]

Where is my phone? Avast Anti-Theft knows.

A stranger broke into Giri C’s house last September. The thief looked through Giri’s belongings for something of value. He found a MotoE Phone and grabbed it. Mobile phones are an easy target because the thief can just slip in a new SIM card and resell the phone on the black market. What this thief […]

New ASUS ZenPad to come with Avast Mobile Security

ASUS, the third largest consumer notebook vendor in the world, has selected Avast Mobile Security to be pre-loaded on its new line of Android powered tablets. These tablets, called ZenPad, will be debuted at the upcoming Computex in Taiwan this June. The much anticipated 7-inch ZenPad 7 will give customers 12 months of Avast Mobile […]