Nowadays, people are relying more and more on their Smartphone, they even save all their private information on their phones without thinking of the consequences. A group of scientists from Indiana University and the Naval Surface Warfare, built a cellphone spy malware called “PlaceRaider” to show that smartphones are a major security risk, and that they could be turned against their users.
This malware works on all versions of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and above. It’s functions consist of taking random pictures every two seconds of wherever its user is to produce a 3D picture without attracting attention. The pictures are sent to a server that filter the numerous graphics and rebuild the scene in a 3D format, getting as a result a clear and detailed idea of the place. This is possible through the orientation and location functions that are incorporated in the program
The access that SpaceRaider requires are similar to the ones of many advanced camera applications, so users can install it without knowing that they are giving permission to this malware to take pictures and send them. Additionally, once it is installed, the shutter sound is deactivated, so the victim will not notice that pictures are being taken. Therefore, burglars could download the physical space to steal the objects in it, such as information on computer monitors, financial documents, and personal information.
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| Pictures taken at different hours |
However, we don’t have to be afraid “yet.” As I said before, it was built as an academic exercise, but can you imagine yourself being stalked and having things stolen from you through your cellphone? What if the government were to use this kind of malware to spy on its citizens?. It is clear that we are losing more of our privacy every day, so we must be more careful with the programs that we choose to download from the internet,we should always have antivirus software installed and above all else, keep our private information in a safe place.
-You can find further information in this research paper, written by the scientists from Indiana University and the Naval Surface Warfare:http://arxiv.org/pdf/1209.5982v1.pdf
