Live data from Hacker News

Pairings of Android apps that leak sensitive data

theatlantic.com

1–10 of 14 posts

Re: Pairings of Android apps that leak sensitive data

#3
The study is available here[0]. The gist is that an app can launder a request it isn't privileged to make through another app that is privileged and doesn't correctly check the intent sender. There are examples in Section 4.3.

[0] : http://people.cs.vt.edu/danfeng/papers/AsiaCCS-17-Yao.pdf

Re: Pairings of Android apps that leak sensitive data

#4
I only use Nexus and Pixel devices lately, so I'm not sure if this is available on all devices, but for apps that I have any worries about (e.g. 100% of games) I have a second user, on an empty gmail account created purely for that purpose, that I switch over to. It takes less than three seconds to switch accounts, I game and get the diversion, and then switch back. The downside is that I don't get notifications, and some privileged info is still available to the apps (although I block the ability to make calls or send texts to the other number, etc), but it does greatly reduce the surface area of the exposure.
Post reply on HN