Texting scam can hijack your emails- Cyber criminals and scammers will not just leave these days, will they? Not only are we bombarded with more loot and phishing schemes than ever before, the bad guys have also taken to crashing our phones with malicious text messages that open up your operating system. It is a crazy world, and the worst offenders seem to be getting too bold.
Texting scam can hijack your emails- In fact, a new type of scam is beginning to make its way to smartphones worldwide - only this time, it is not interested in crashing the phone with fun. A security flaw has surfaced that may allow you to spy on your phone by malware and your incoming email. Once inside, it can send information back to hackers and potentially compromise your data.
If you accidentally open the wrong text message, your private email can see even more hackers on the dark web. Here is the latest on this scary text messaging scam and how you can protect yourself from the most vulnerable criminals on the web.
Android phones at risk of new text message scam
Texting scam can hijack your emails - Smartphone operating systems are no strangers to scams, cyber attacks and security loopholes. Recently, hackers discovered a way to crash iPhones only by sending corrupt text messages. Now, cyber criminals have perfected their craft to launch another devastating text message attack threatening over millions of phones. All of this is the right security hole to exploit.
And sure enough, security researchers at Check Point Research have discovered that a wide swathboard of Android phones is vulnerable to security holes found in onboard text messaging applications. If an insecure phone user opens a text message containing malicious code, a hacker can easily gain access to the device's email settings, which will allow them to easily intercept and spy on email.
The drawback comes from an issue of how the phone "provisions" features over the air, which is essentially how your carrier can change the settings on your device without being in person. Since this flaw is at the root of the operating system, only phone developers can issue fixes to fix this problem.
Is my phone affected by this threat?
Texting scam can hijack your emails - This new hacking scam is currently targeting Android phones only, so if you are an iPhone user, you are clear. Officially, weak phone manufacturers at this time are Huawei, LG, Samsung and Sony.
For fixes, Samsung and LG are currently the only device-makers that have developed software patches for this time. In fact, Samsung withdrew the issue in May of this year, so if you recently updated your Samsung phone, you are already protected from harm. LG's update came in July, so if you have managed to update your LG phone, this fix has already been applied.
Huawei has vowed to deliver a fix delivery, along with the arrival of its latest Mate and P-series phones. This means that you may have to wait a few months to secure your device.
Texting scam can hijack your emails
On the other hand, Sony is refusing to accept the issue, claiming that they have followed security procedures. There is no word from Sony that a fix even works, so if you have a Sony phone, it may be worth your while to screen your text messages more carefully. Do not open anything to anyone you do not recognize, and stick to talking only with people you know that you are using your smartphone.
If we cannot trust companies to focus on business, then the burden falls on us. Thankfully in this case, it is as simple as leaving that message unread.