Malware with Government Signature

I was browsing reddit and I came upon this link that showed a piece of malware with a signature belonging to the Malaysian government. While reading this article I saw that the attackers steal the code-signing certificates just so they can sign the code as if they are someone else.

I thought this was very interesting because I knew of phishing attacks are usually the ones were the attacker pretends to be someone else, but now it’s malware as well. The article mentioned that the Malaysian government was notified of this malware with their signature on it, but this made me wonder if they can steal government-type signatures, can they also pretend to be the U.S. government?

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002269.html

HTC Has a Security Flaw

While looking for something to post in this blog I came upon a couple of websites that all said the same thing “HTC Massive Security Vulnerability” Since I own an HTC phone I became intrigued and read what the security flaw was. Some Sense-enabled HTC phones that allow apps with internet permissions can gain access to your private data. Most of the hones at risk are the newer HTC models using Sense, like the Thunderbolt and EVO 3D, include an app called HTCLoggers, this app collects data such as: phone numbers, call logs, email addresses, user accounts, last network and GPS locations, IP addresses, full memory information, battery info/ status(charging and wake lock history).  All this data is then send back to HTC where anyone with some computer knowledge can have access to it. The way this is allowed to have your information is by requesting a single android.permission.INTERNET, this is very common for many apps that connect to the web.

HTC is aware of the issue and they’ve stated   “HTC takes our customers’ security very seriously, and we are working to investigate this claim as quickly as possible. We will provide an update as soon as we’re able to determine the accuracy of the claim and what steps, if any, need to be taken.” There are ways to fix the problem; one of them is to remove HTCloggers from a rooted device, the other is not to download any suspicious apps. My phone is an HTC Aria and it doesn’t get any internet reception so I don’t think I should be too worried, but do any of you have an HTC phone that could be in danger?

http://rootzwiki.com/content.php?331-HTC-Security-Bug-Leaks-Your-Personal-Info

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/10/01/massive-security-vulnerability-in-htc-android-devices-evo-3d-4g-thunderbolt-others-exposes-phone-numbers-gps-sms-emails-addresses-much-more/

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/02/htc-security-vulnerability-said-to-leak-phone-numbers-gps-data/