PhoneSpy App Will Steal All Your Pics, Chats, Data From Android Phone: Delete These Apps Right Away

The latest research has found new spyware which may be targeting your Android phone and trying to steal your personal data.

Yes, we are talking about PhoneSpy, it is a new spyware campaign.

PhoneSpy Spreading Fast

Presently, most of the South Korean users of Android devices are in their clutches. 

Unfortunately, it will only be a matter of time till it spreads elsewhere. 

According to the researchers, spyware does not leverage the existing vulnerabilities of a device.

 Basically, it hides in plain sight by posing as a legitimate app, such as one for yoga instructions or streaming videos.

PhoneSpy Threat

The biggest threat that PhoneSpy is posing to your Android phone is by stealthily uninstalling mobile security apps, researchers at mobile security firm Zimperium have discovered. 

The experts have found PhoneSpy hiding inside as many as 23 apps that look benign and genuine, much like any other legitimate Android app. 

Here it is noteworthy that this spyware can do more harm than just stealing the identity of Android apps.

It can also access the camera of the phone it has targeted and use it to take photos and record videos in real-time without the user’s knowledge. 

Further, these photos and videos could be used to commit personal or corporate blackmail and also can be used to commit cyber espionage.

Apps Carrying PhoneSpy 

Below is the list of the apps that have been found carrying the PhoneSpy spyware by researchers.

The impact of this spyware is scary. However, the users can stay alert by noticing some unusual instances when they have mistakenly downloaded PhoneSpy-infected apps. 

Noticeably, these apps ask for excessive on-device permissions, so this should be a red flag for the users. 

IIn case you miss noticing and give these apps the permissions they ask for. 

How Does PhoneSpy Affect?

Chances are that you would be allowing PhoneSpy to control and hide itself from your phone’s app menu and track you in the background. 

As these apps are not visible in the app menu, users cannot interrupt PhoneSpy’s stealing process, according to Zimperium’s Richard Melick.

Interestingly, PhoneSpy has not made its way to the Google Play Store, nor was it found inside other app marketplaces on Android. 

So, spyware is spreading to phones through distribution methods based on web traffic redirection or social engineering, according to researchers. 

In reality, these are different tactics that attackers use to lure people into performing certain actions for a reward. But in the end, the victims end up downloading phony apps. 

At present, the headcount of the victims stands at 1,000. But, who knows when it will spread and start claiming more innocent Android phone users?

 Since PhoneSpy belongs to the category of spyware that masquerades as legitimate apps, it is very hard to track it. It also shares similarities with previously-discovered spyware and stalkware programs, which, according to researchers, could be a way to compile and combine different features from different programs by attackers. Using off-the-shelf codes makes it easy to hide the identity of the spyware.

Zimperium claims to have told off authorities in South Korea and the US, but the spyware is as active and spreading fast. So, keep away from suspicious apps if you do not want your data to be stolen for all nefarious reasons.